Disaster, Recovery, and Resilience: Linking Social Capital and Tourism in Post-disaster Recovery in Nepal

Abstract

This research examined the interlinkages between social capital and tourism in a post-disaster recovery context. The research is based on the assumption that disaster impacts and subsequent recovery efforts filter through a broad spectrum of tourism and community social capital networks. The relative strengths and weaknesses of these networks determine the overall impact of the disaster and the success of recovery. Taking the case of devastating aftereffects of the 2015 Nepal earthquake, this study focused on post-earthquake recovery efforts in Gosainkund Rural Municipality (RM) – one of the popular tourist destinations in Nepal. Employing mixed methods, data collection in Gosainkund RM involved a total of 288 household surveys, 15 key informant interviews (KIIs), and 3 focus group discussions (FGDs) at the local level and 17 expert interviews (EIs) at the national level during the field visit from September 2023 to May 2024. The findings revealed that bonding, bridging, and linking social capital were crucial in post-earthquake recovery. However, the degree of significance varied across the recovery continuum (i.e., immediate, medium-term, and long-term recovery phases) with changing priorities in recovery activities in each phase of the continuum. The recovery activities, such as search and rescue, performing rituals, debris clearance, and building temporary shelter, were priority recovery activities at the immediate and medium-term recovery phase, while house reconstruction was a priority at the long-term recovery phase. With such changed priorities in recovery activities, the role of bonding and bridging social capital was significant at the immediate and medium-term recovery phase, while linking social capital played a crucial role in the long-term recovery phase. Tourism and social capital have an interactive relationship that creates a positive feedback loop. The tourism-specific social capital (TSSC) also plays a crucial role in post-earthquake recovery. The TSSC was pivotal in accessing resources and information sharing in support of recovery activities. The role of linking tourism-specific social capital, which emerged with a close-knit relation with the international tourists, was crucial in the long-term recovery phase. Hospitality traditions in Nepal are culturally rooted. This study offers an interesting illustration of how the strong host-guest relationship between Nepalese tourism entrepreneurs, and their overseas networks of clients made a difference in post-earthquake recovery efforts. As part of a large-scale disaster recovery effort Nepal has experienced in this century, the Gosainkund RM study offers critical lessons on the importance of better preparations in the event of a future disaster of similar magnitude and scale. Lessons for post-earthquake recovery include the need for a holistic and integrated recovery approach that recognizes and builds on inclusive, consultative processes at the local level instead of a top-down one-size-fits-all approach. Given the perceived economic power of tourism, the study suggests that stakeholders involved in post-earthquake recovery see tourism as playing important roles in facilitating access to resources and information, influencing policies to make them inclusive, and advocating and lobbying for sustainable and resilient tourism. This dissertation advances theoretical and empirical understanding of the least researched aspect of the linkages between tourism, social capital, and post-disaster recovery, along with offering a working definition of tourism-specific social capital (TSSC) in the post-disaster context. Furthermore, it offers policy recommendations for strengthening post-disaster recovery efforts and identifies avenues for further research.