The Emergence and Global Development of Niche Economic Sectors

为了更好地了解有助于利基经济部门的出现、发展和成功的因素，本项目提出了以下问题：国际旅游业最近的变化对经济和社会的影响是什么？自世纪末开始发展以来，消费者驱动的大众旅游（国际旅游）已成为一个至关重要的全球性产业。国际旅游业占全球国内生产总值（GDP）的10%，占全球就业岗位的9%，并构成了我们这个时代最大的商品，服务，信息和人口的全球流通。国际旅游业也是许多国家经济发展计划的核心，包括它们努力促进多个部门（如服务部门、手工业）的就业增长，创造外汇，刺激国内和国际投资，改善公路、港口和机场等国家基础设施。在过去十年中，国际旅游部门发生了重大变化，其特点是旅游地点和游客人口构成发生了变化。在中东，冲突不仅改变了游客的路线，而且该地区的行为者也开始开发利基市场，以吸引来自亚洲、中东、北美和欧洲的越来越多的中产阶级穆斯林。这个行业（俗称“清真旅游”）规模庞大，预计在未来五年内将从1400亿美元增长到2300亿美元。了解清真旅游等利基市场发展的因素以及它们对全球旅游业的影响，对于制定经济计划和政策至关重要，这些计划和政策将使所有美国人在不断变化的全球经济关系和进程中受益。这项研究将在大伊斯坦布尔地区进行，该地区是新兴清真旅游利基产业的中心，并将侧重于来自海湾合作理事会国家、东南亚和联合王国的清真旅游供应商和消费者的跨国网络。这是一个特别合适的研究环境，因为研究者在过去五年中进行了广泛的初步实地考察，为这个项目奠定了基础，并在大中东地区拥有超过十五年的研究经验，并研究了跨越中东，南亚，欧洲和北美的穆斯林网络。因此，研究人员可以利用现有的基础设施和支持，这使得少量的资金产生重大的研究影响。调查人员将评估清真旅游利基部门如何与传统形式的大众旅游发展，以及什么样的宗教理解和实践塑造了这一部门的出现。在研究这些问题时，调查人员将研究这个利基部门的三个方面：供应商，消费者和清真旅游景点。调查员将出席贸易会议;采访企业家、旅游官员和消费者;收集关于旅馆、图尔斯、餐馆和其他清真旅游基础设施的信息。这项研究的结果将通过审查宗教理解和做法对企业家和消费者的经济活动和决策过程的影响程度，深入了解促进利基经济部门发展的因素。

To better understand the factors that contribute to the emergence, development, and success of niche economic sectors, this project asks, what are the economic and social implications of recent changes in international tourism? Since its development beginning in the late 19th century, consumer-driven mass tourism (international tourism) has become a vital global industry. International tourism accounts for 10% of global gross domestic product (GDP), 9% of jobs worldwide, and constitutes the largest global circulation of goods, services, information and populations of our time. The international tourism industry is also central to many countries' economic development plans, including their attempts at fostering job growth in multiple sectors (e.g. service sector, craft industries), generating foreign currency, stimulating national and international investment, and improving national infrastructure such as roads, ports and airports. Over the past decade, the international tourism sector has undergone significant changes, marked by shifts in sites of tourism and the demographic composition of tourists. In the Middle East, conflicts have not only rerouted where tourists seek to go, but actors in the region have also begun to develop niche markets to attract growing populations of middle class Muslims from throughout Asia, the Middle East, North America and Europe. This industry (which is colloquially referred to as 'halal tourism') is massive, expected to grow from $140 to $230 billion over the next five years. Understanding the factors that account for the development of niche markets like halal tourism, and the impact they are having on global tourism is critical for developing economic programs and policies that will benefit all Americans in the face of changing global economic relations and processes. The research will be conducted in the greater Istanbul area, a hub of the nascent halal tourism niche industry, and will focus on a transnational network of halal tourism purveyors and consumers from the Gulf Cooperation Council states, South-East Asia and the United Kingdom. This is a particularly apt research milieu because the investigator has conducted extensive preliminary fieldwork over the past five years to lay the groundwork for this project, and has over fifteen years of research experience in the greater Middle East region, and of researching Muslim networks that span the Middle East, South Asia, Europe and North America. As such, the investigator can leverage existing infrastructure and support, which allows a small amount of funding to produce significant research impact. The investigator will assess how the halal tourism niche sector is developing in relation to conventional forms of mass tourism and what religious understandings and practice shape the emergence of this sector. In examining these issues, the investigator will research three dimensions of this niche sector: purveyors, consumers, and sites of halal tourism. The investigator will attend trade conferences; interview entrepreneurs, tourism officials and consumers; and collect information on hotels, tours, restaurants and other halal tourism infrastructure. Findings from this research will provide insight into factors that promote the development of niche economic sectors by examining the extent to which religious understandings and practices impact entrepreneurs' and consumers' economic activities and decision-making processes.