Diversification as category error: an architectural theory of organisational resilience in tourism

Tourism organisations are routinely advised to diversify their revenue streams to build resilience. This paper argues that this advice rests on structural assumptions that do not transfer reliably to the organisational level. Drawing on a process-tracing case of Marine Conservation Cambodia, a hybrid tourism-conservation NGO that collapsed financially despite operating multiple revenue streams, it identifies three mechanisms through which diversification generates rather than absorbs fragility: correlated exposure, cost rigidity, and governance overload. A two-dimensional framework is proposed to help policymakers, funders, and organisational leaders assess whether diversification will stabilise or destabilise the organisations they support.