Irma Booyens
Biographic Data
| ID | 2534299 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Irma Booyens |
| GIVEN NAMES | Irma |
| FAMILY NAME | Booyens |
| SIGNATURE | BOOYENS I |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Johannesburg |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5543-9780 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 30 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Lost in translation: ANT, power and tourism development
Theorising township tourism: Moving beyond the ‘slum’
‘Slum’ tourism research tends to recycle normative arguments while remaining lacking in theory • The literature relying on township tourism as a key example of slum tourism overlooks its evolution • An emphasis on place presents a way forward for theorising tourism in marginalised settlements
Reframing creativity in the city: On the emergence of contemporary township creativity
This paper offers a provocation for reframing the spatiality of urban creativity by interrogating the groundswell of contemporary creativity in South African townships. Creativity in marginalised neighbourhoods such as townships does not fit dominant creative city narratives and global city aspirations. The literature is largely silent about creative work and spaces characterised by informality. This paper draws on critical urbanism emphasising t…
The mobilities of visual artists: The case of South Africa
Creative industries and talent have traditionally clustered in a handful of global cities. Yet, recent developments, including digital technologies and the COVID-19 pandemic are reshaping these spatial dynamics. Drawing on 30 interviews, this paper considers the mobilities of visual artists in South Africa and whether they need to locate in the established centres to realise their ambitions. It explores how these entrepreneurs choose a 'home base…
Path creation for an electricity transition in South African tourism
Transitions to low-carbon energy are central to sustainability transitions, with electricity being a pressing current concern both in South Africa and globally. Economic, social, institutional, and political factors often make transitioning to renewable electricity particularly complex. In this article, we examine electricity transitions in tourism from a global South context, combining evolutionary economic geography (EEG) concepts with the mult…
Education and skills in tourism: Implications for youth employment in South Africa
The tourism sector is routinely offered as an option to grow employment in South Africa. Yet, questions need to be asked about the nature of employment in tourism, the state of education and skills training in the sector and its prospects for youth. Drawing on a national study, this paper interrogates tourism education and skills training issues in relation to youth employment and development. The findings reveal that youth in the sector find the…
Re-creating slum tourism: Perspectives from South Africa
Slum tourism is a growing phenomenon in several cities in the global South. The objective in this conceptual paper is to analyse the development and critical challenges around slum tourism in the urban global South and to argue a case for ‘re-creating’ slum tourism by building upon the potential for creative tourism. The focus is upon the ‘townships’ of South Africa. It is argued that South Africa provides an instructive case study in the interna…
Innovation for Development in South Africa: Experiences with Basic Service Technologies in Distressed Municipalities
South Africa’s National Development Plan entrenches the importance of a capable developmental state for the country’s social and economic development. Likewise, the potential of science, technology and innovation to address development challenges is emphasised. The developmental state and inclusive innovation ideas have been in and out of the policy agenda since 1996 but have recently gained renewed policy attention. As part of an inclusive innov…
Tourist and resident perspectives on ‘slum tourism’: The case of the Vilakazi precinct, Soweto
Innovation for inclusive rural transformation: The Role of the State
Innovation is increasingly recognized as a potent policy tool for addressing the structural problems that characterize poverty in marginalized rural communities. In what ways should governments in developing countries be involved in supporting innovation to achieve inclusive development objectives? This special issue brings together key insights from different facets of rural transformation programmes in the global South, with the view to shed li…
Local Innovation Networking Dynamics: Evidence from South Africa
Networking and learning for tourism innovation: Evidence from the Western Cape
This paper examines the nature of networking and learning by tourism firms in relation to accessing knowledge for innovation. In particular, the nature of tourism learning and networking, geography of networking linkages, and systemic characteristics of relationships between tourism firms, government agencies, higher education institutions, and other organisations in the Western Cape tourism system are examined. The analysis draws on 182 tourism …
Creative Tourism in Cape Town: An Innovation Perspective
Township Tourism Demand: Tourists’ Perceptions of Safety and Security
Innovation in High-Technology SMMEs: The Case of the New Media Sector in Cape Town
Creative Industries, Inequality and Social Development: Developments, Impacts and Challenges in Cape Town
Innovation for inclusive rural transformation: The Role of the State
Innovation is increasingly recognized as a potent policy tool for addressing the structural problems that characterize poverty in marginalized rural communities. In what ways should governments in developing countries be involved in supporting innovation to achieve inclusive development objectives? This special issue brings together key insights from different facets of rural transformation programmes in the global South, with the view to shed li…
Path creation for an electricity transition in South African tourism
Transitions to low-carbon energy are central to sustainability transitions, with electricity being a pressing current concern both in South Africa and globally. Economic, social, institutional, and political factors often make transitioning to renewable electricity particularly complex. In this article, we examine electricity transitions in tourism from a global South context, combining evolutionary economic geography (EEG) concepts with the mult…
Networking and learning for tourism innovation: Evidence from the Western Cape
This paper examines the nature of networking and learning by tourism firms in relation to accessing knowledge for innovation. In particular, the nature of tourism learning and networking, geography of networking linkages, and systemic characteristics of relationships between tourism firms, government agencies, higher education institutions, and other organisations in the Western Cape tourism system are examined. The analysis draws on 182 tourism …
Tourist and resident perspectives on ‘slum tourism’: The case of the Vilakazi precinct, Soweto
Local Innovation Networking Dynamics: Evidence from South Africa
Theorising township tourism: Moving beyond the ‘slum’
‘Slum’ tourism research tends to recycle normative arguments while remaining lacking in theory • The literature relying on township tourism as a key example of slum tourism overlooks its evolution • An emphasis on place presents a way forward for theorising tourism in marginalised settlements
Creative Industries, Inequality and Social Development: Developments, Impacts and Challenges in Cape Town
Innovation in High-Technology SMMEs: The Case of the New Media Sector in Cape Town
Township Tourism Demand: Tourists’ Perceptions of Safety and Security
Creative Tourism in Cape Town: An Innovation Perspective
Local Innovation Networking Dynamics: Evidence from South Africa
Networking and learning for tourism innovation: Evidence from the Western Cape
This paper examines the nature of networking and learning by tourism firms in relation to accessing knowledge for innovation. In particular, the nature of tourism learning and networking, geography of networking linkages, and systemic characteristics of relationships between tourism firms, government agencies, higher education institutions, and other organisations in the Western Cape tourism system are examined. The analysis draws on 182 tourism …
Re-creating slum tourism: Perspectives from South Africa
Slum tourism is a growing phenomenon in several cities in the global South. The objective in this conceptual paper is to analyse the development and critical challenges around slum tourism in the urban global South and to argue a case for ‘re-creating’ slum tourism by building upon the potential for creative tourism. The focus is upon the ‘townships’ of South Africa. It is argued that South Africa provides an instructive case study in the interna…
Innovation for Development in South Africa: Experiences with Basic Service Technologies in Distressed Municipalities
South Africa’s National Development Plan entrenches the importance of a capable developmental state for the country’s social and economic development. Likewise, the potential of science, technology and innovation to address development challenges is emphasised. The developmental state and inclusive innovation ideas have been in and out of the policy agenda since 1996 but have recently gained renewed policy attention. As part of an inclusive innov…
Tourist and resident perspectives on ‘slum tourism’: The case of the Vilakazi precinct, Soweto
Innovation for inclusive rural transformation: The Role of the State
Innovation is increasingly recognized as a potent policy tool for addressing the structural problems that characterize poverty in marginalized rural communities. In what ways should governments in developing countries be involved in supporting innovation to achieve inclusive development objectives? This special issue brings together key insights from different facets of rural transformation programmes in the global South, with the view to shed li…
Education and skills in tourism: Implications for youth employment in South Africa
The tourism sector is routinely offered as an option to grow employment in South Africa. Yet, questions need to be asked about the nature of employment in tourism, the state of education and skills training in the sector and its prospects for youth. Drawing on a national study, this paper interrogates tourism education and skills training issues in relation to youth employment and development. The findings reveal that youth in the sector find the…
Path creation for an electricity transition in South African tourism
Transitions to low-carbon energy are central to sustainability transitions, with electricity being a pressing current concern both in South Africa and globally. Economic, social, institutional, and political factors often make transitioning to renewable electricity particularly complex. In this article, we examine electricity transitions in tourism from a global South context, combining evolutionary economic geography (EEG) concepts with the mult…
Theorising township tourism: Moving beyond the ‘slum’
‘Slum’ tourism research tends to recycle normative arguments while remaining lacking in theory • The literature relying on township tourism as a key example of slum tourism overlooks its evolution • An emphasis on place presents a way forward for theorising tourism in marginalised settlements
Reframing creativity in the city: On the emergence of contemporary township creativity
This paper offers a provocation for reframing the spatiality of urban creativity by interrogating the groundswell of contemporary creativity in South African townships. Creativity in marginalised neighbourhoods such as townships does not fit dominant creative city narratives and global city aspirations. The literature is largely silent about creative work and spaces characterised by informality. This paper draws on critical urbanism emphasising t…
The mobilities of visual artists: The case of South Africa
Creative industries and talent have traditionally clustered in a handful of global cities. Yet, recent developments, including digital technologies and the COVID-19 pandemic are reshaping these spatial dynamics. Drawing on 30 interviews, this paper considers the mobilities of visual artists in South Africa and whether they need to locate in the established centres to realise their ambitions. It explores how these entrepreneurs choose a 'home base…
Lost in translation: ANT, power and tourism development
Economic growth (11 works) · Economics (11 works) · Geography (10 works) · Political science (10 works) · Business (9 works) · Tourism (9 works) · Economic geography (8 works) · Diverse Aspects of Tourism Research (7 works) · Cultural Industries and Urban Development (6 works) · Sociology (6 works)