Kahulugan ng Kabuhayan: conceptualising a practice-based meaning of informal tourism work

Research has shifted attention toward the subjective meanings workers attach to their labour. While valuable, extant literature has centred on individual and subjective meanings of work, often overlooking the broader sociocultural dimensions that shape these meanings. Using a six-month cross-indigenous ethnographic approach and Filipino practice-based methods, we hence examine the social-relational practices of 52 informal tourism workers in Palawan, Philippines, to explore how they derive meaning from their work. Findings reveal that workers associate their labour with meanings of collective identity, struggle, and strength expressed through normative, dialogic, and embodied practices grounded in the native virtue of pakikipagkapwa (shared inner self). These collective meanings challenge individualistic understandings of work and underscore the significance of culturally embedded social practices in tourism labour. We propose an empirically-informed framework grounded on the sociocultural practices that shape meaningful work and policy-relevant insights into the social value of informal labour in tourism.