Determinants of impact investing for tourism development in emerging destinations of sub-Saharan Africa

Impact investing is making important and positive contributions to the socio-economic development of groups at the bottom-of-the-pyramid. Independent literature streams reveal how in resource scarce contexts of sub-Saharan Africa, businesses are increasingly tapping into this emerging opportunity which is extending loans and other forms of capital. However, to date, there is very limited understanding of this domain from a hospitality and tourism perspective. By synthesising across these literature streams, we explore the opportunities, constraints and nature of impact investing, and theorise its key determinants in resource scarce contexts. In order to elaborate our theorisation, we content analyse published accounts, namely industry reports and academic literature, to argue for the need for more impact investing in hospitality and tourism, a sector that has traditionally suffered from under-financing and limited politico-economic recognition. The study lays a foundation for future research in impact investing in hospitality and tourism and yields important policy and managerial implications.