Universität zu Köln

Mlilo, Mfundo ORCID: 0000-0003-3876-2740 (2025). Path Development in Tourism Destinations: The Interplay of Agency, Institutions and Path Dependence in the Global South. PhD thesis, Universität zu Köln.

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Abstract

The study of industrial path formation has become a key focus within evolutionary economic geography (EEG), providing important insights into how new industries and economic activities emerge, develop, and become territorially embedded. However, much of this research is based on experiences from the Global North, which often emphasise technologically advanced sectors and stable institutional settings. This emphasis risks generalising theoretical assumptions that overlook the structurally weak conditions influencing the emergence and development of industrial paths in the Global South, especially in post-colonial Southern Africa. Theoretically, economic geography draws on two main schools of thought (EEG and institutional economics) and, more recently, human agency to explain why and how industries emerge and why some regions succeed more than others. Nevertheless, much of this work lacks awareness of the particular complexities of path formation in peripheral regions characterised by colonial legacies, institutional hybridity, and fragile socio-economic circumstances. This PhD thesis addresses this significant gap in the literature by advancing our understanding of path formation. Firstly, it explores the role of agency in the uneven evolution of three tourism destinations (Zambezi in Namibia, Chobe in Botswana and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe). Building on the Trinity of Change Agency (TCA) concept, it advances a multi-scalar perspective on institutional entrepreneurship to demonstrate how different forms of agency shape regional path formation during critical junctures. Secondly, it examines the path-dependent and historically contingent nature of tourism trajectories in Southern Africa, with a focus on Victoria Falls. Using the concept of Coloniality of power, it provides a compelling empirical example of ongoing continuities within the contemporary tourism industry in Victoria Falls. Thirdly, the thesis demonstrates how EEG and Agency perspectives are currently limited in explaining path formation due to their evolutionary focus. In this context, it examines how future-oriented visions, narratives, and imaginaries influence the evolution of tourism paths. Using the case of the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA), it illustrates how agentic mobilisation of specific resources in early path formation can enable actors to achieve their future goals. Overall, the thesis contributes a nuanced understanding of industrial path formation, and it expands and pluralises theoretical frameworks that underpin path formation. It concludes that the development of regional tourism paths is a complex path-dependent evolutionary process, shaped by the interplay of multi-scalar change agents—their ability to recognise and act on opportunities, navigate institutional reforms, and overcome structural constraints.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD thesis)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Mlilo, Mfundo mmlilo@uni-koeln.de https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3876-2740 UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-790535
Date:	2025
Place of Publication:	Koln
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
Divisions:	Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences > Department of Geosciences > Geographisches Institut
Subjects:	Economics Geography and travel
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language Path Development, Tourism, Trinity of Change agency concept, Coloniality of Power UNSPECIFIED
Date of oral exam:	6 October 2025
Referee:	Name Academic Title Revilla Diez, Javier Professor Bollig, Michael Professor
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/79053