Local businesses as boundary actors shaping sustainable tourism futures in Biosphere Reserves

Biosphere Reserves have attracted significant attention from tourism scholars, not least for the management challenges they pose. As ‘bounded spaces’, they are defined by their shared natural and cultural heritage assets which form the basis for collective identification and distinct offers to visitors. Although ‘boundary actors’ have been recognised for their potential to induce beneficial change in tourism, little is known about how small businesses function in this capacity, towards the goal of fostering sustainable tourism development, and in the particular setting of Biosphere Reserves. This paper examines tourism businesses as boundary actors in the development of sustainable tourism in protected landscapes and in so doing adds to recent critical discussion of ‘Living Labs’ in shaping tourism futures. Specifically, it investigates the experiences of small nature-based businesses in ‘The Living Coast’ (Brighton and Lewes Downs) Biosphere Reserve in the United Kingdom (UK) to innovate their product offers in the period from November 2019 to May 2020 as part of wider project work (2018–2021). From a detailed Thematic Analysis of rich qualitative data, the paper highlights how local micro and small businesses translate, reframe and adapt sustainability and Biosphere Reserve values; how they can communicate them to visitors and residents; and how they can actively participate in place-making and place-keeping activities, becoming key boundary actors. Of the four analytical themes, the innovation and learning mechanisms utilised by local businesses, particularly those related to coordination, followed by discursive boundaries, were found to be the most important. These speak to new ways of positioning Biosphere Reserves as ‘living labs’ for tourism businesses emphasising dynamic sustainable tourism potential rather than stasis. As boundary actors, local businesses can absorb, (re)produce, adapt, co-produce and communicate the sustainability agendas of Biosphere Reserves through innovation and collaborative learning if structures and processes enable them to do so.