Tourism Reset: Reimagining South African Domestic Tourism in the Era Of Covid-19

Domestic tourism is increasingly being propagated as a primer for the global tourism industry’s resuscitation in the era of COVID-19. However, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the challenge for African tourism destinations such as South Africa is predicting domestic tourists’ behavioral and demand responses. The article explores the mediating effect of perceived risk on the nexus between South African domestic tourists’ push and pull travel motives. Data were generated via a self-administered online survey and analyzed primarily utilizing factor and mediation analyses. From the sample (n = 427), the study identifies the heterogeneity in the push–pull travel motives nexus. Moreover, the findings also establish the susceptibility of experiential escape-seeking tourists to the negative mediating influence of COVID-19-induced perceived physical risk on their likelihood of engaging in leisure-oriented domestic tourism activity. The results also point to potential cognitive bias and subjective preference towards domestic tourism, potentially signaling a crisis-induced shift in tourist behavior. The managerial implications are also discussed.

Covid-19 Crisis Management Responses of Small Tourism Firms in South Africa

Although the literature on COVID-19 is expanding, particularly in relation to crisis management responses pursued by large tourism enterprises, currently few studies exist on the responses of small tourism firms and more specifically of the crisis management practices of small and microaccom modation establishments. The aim in this study is to investigate the business management responses of small tourism firms to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and restrictions in South Africa. Themes of concern are whether enterprises have been able to sustain operations and adopt certain coping mechanisms or management strategies to mitigate the pandemic’s impact. The article reports on an interview survey of small and microenterprises engaged in accommodation services (N = 75) in South Africa under lockdown restrictions as a means of assessing the responses and coping strategies during an unprecedented crisis of this core component of the country’s tourism industry. Among key findings are that small and microlodging firms that have suffered severe financial losses because of the COVID-19 shock have few viable mechanisms to cope with the impact of the crisis and that government support to aid recovery has been insufficient in South Africa. This research contributes to the limited body of international scholarship that examines how small and microaccommodation firms, a major group and contributor of many economies, are navigating the unprecedented COVID-19 environment.

The Making Of Capital City Tourism In South Africa

Capital city tourism is a significant theme for urban tourism scholarship. Existing international research on capital city tourism mainly concentrates on the global North. For the global South as a whole limited research examines capital cities as tourism destinations and for sub-Saharan Africa scholarship is minimal. This study contributes to the small body of writings that interrogate capital city tourism in the global South. Further, it marks a departure from the mainstream research focus on contemporary issues of capital city tourism by adopting an historical perspective on capital city tourism. Using a range of archival and documentary sources the analysis highlights the making of South Africa’s capital city as a tourism destination. Under scrutiny is the historical evolution and changing character of tourism in Pretoria over a period of a half century from 1920 to 1975. It is shown that the distinctiveness of Pretoria’s early tourism products were a reflection of its capital status. Definition of the tourism product base and its promotion were facilitated by the activities undertaken by national government promotion and the local Pretoria Publicity Association. An historical challenge for tourism development was the poor quality of local hotels, which were at a standard below international norms until at least the late 1960s. The difficulties of the accommodation services sector were compounded by the enactment of apartheid legislation from 1948 onwards, which required the existence of hotels as racialized and segregated spaces.

Livelihood Diversification Through Tourism: Identity, Well-Being, and Potential in Rural Coastal Communities

Traditional rural livelihoods are disappearing due to natural resource decline, climate pressure and, also modernization. This study explores livelihood diversification from primary economic activities into tourism employment in rural communities. We examine the developmental role of tourism in areas where traditional activities, in this case fishing, have declined and tourism is growing. This article presents the findings of two case studies: the coastal communities of Padstow (UK) and Paternoster (South Africa). The approach is qualitative and draws on sustainable livelihoods and social well-being notions to examine how affected people “cope with change” with respect to tourism diversification, and individual and community well-being. While the socioeconomic and sociopolitical contexts in the two research sites differ, the findings show that narratives about belonging and identity feature prominently with respect to fishing livelihoods in both cases. Small-scale fishing, perceived as a way of life for fishers, is under threat in both areas, yet there is limited evidence of concerted efforts to plan and manage the potential diversification processes into tourism. Nonetheless, we observe that tourism does provide some opportunities for fishing-dependent communities and outline some avenues for stronger collaboration, particularly by focusing on culinary tourism.

Change and Continuity in Event Tourism Development in Nigeria: Examples from Ekpe Cultural Festival in Abia State

Events are not only one of the most important parts of tourism, but also an inseparable part of human society. In recent times, events have gained global significance through the tourism industry. As festivals are essentially special events, their special appeal stems in part from their limited duration or concentration of activities over a set period and innate uniqueness of each event or there may be a particular theme. This article critically examines the change and continuity processes of a community festival—Ekpe Cultural Festival in Umunkpeyi and Isingwu in Abia State, Nigeria—for a deeper understanding of the effects in the development of event tourism and its sustainability. Data were collected through ethnographic fieldwork conducted with key informants directly involved in the festival, including the community leaders, chiefs, and staff of the Department of Tourism (DoT), the Abia State Tourism Board (ASTB), and the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MoTAC). Data were analyzed using content analysis to identify themes that reflect informants’ perception of the changes and continuity that affect the festival in the study area. Findings revealed notable changes in the practices associated with the festival such as indifference to attire for the festival, drastic reduction in masking, attitude to funding during the festival, while male dominance continues to be paramount. This article concludes that event tourism development requires government support, collaboration, and sensitization to harness and retain some practices of the festival amid obvious changes.

Historical Turning Points in Tourism: The Establishment of the Hotel Board in South Africa

The concept of “turning points” is increasingly applied to understand the evolution of tourism. Using archival research, it is demonstrated that a significant turning point for the evolution of tourism in South Africa occurred in 1964–1965 with the establishment of the Hotel Board and the beginnings of its operations. From 1928 government legislation produced a hotel industry in which most “hotels” were oriented more to liquor selling than the supply of accommodation services. This trajectory of the hotel industry continued into the 1960s. Arguably, the initiation of the Hotel Board was a turning point in the growth and modernization of the hotel sector and for the tourism industry in South Africa. Undertaken at a period of expansion in the domestic and international tourism industry as well as of rising government awareness as to the potential economic (and political) benefits from expanded tourism promotion the activities of the Hotel Board addressed the long standing shortcomings surrounding the quality and standards of provision of accommodation services in South African hotels. It represented a transition in the character of the tourist hotel in South Africa from one that was formerly dominated by liquor to an institution that—going forward—would be mainly concentrated on the provision of hospitality services.

The Changing Nature of the Mice Sector in South Africa Due to Covid-19

The purpose of the study is to explore the changing nature of MICE tourism in South Africa due to COVID-19. Based on a series of interviews conducted with representatives of the MICE industry in various sectors, including incentive, conference, and meeting, venues, and associations, the study found that while the shift to virtual events was adopted by many, there are substantial costs involved and significant learning required for their successful execution. Further, the study found venues to be among the most affected owing to the restrictions placed on visitor numbers and the need to adapt to the virtual environment. Moreover, virtual events were perceived as temporary plasters, with live to return once restrictions on the industry are lifted. The study concludes that virtual and hybrid events are valuable in the continuity of MICE tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic. The present research is one of the very few studies examining the impact of COVID-19 on MICE events and reveals the subsequent changes, in theory and practice, to MICE tourism.

Perceptions of the Socioeconomic Impacts of a Women’s Major Sporting Event in Africa

Major sports events have emerged as an important destination development tool for many developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to assess the socioeconomic impacts of the 2016 Women African Cup of Nations (WAFCON) hosted in Cameroon. Taking the hosting cities (Limbe and Yaounde) as the case study sites, the study utilized a mixed-methods research approach. The data emerged from the 759 questionnaires distributed to the event attendees and 10 interviews with key informants. The study showed the event to have created employment and income generation opportunities in the host cities and have contributed to increased national pride and social cohesion. Also, the study found the event to have played an important role in the advancement of women in sport. However, the research revealed little leveraging of the event’s socioeconomic opportunities for longer gain. The study concludes that female sports events, for destination development and the advancement of women’s sport, is an important but neglected area of focus. The study argues for stronger collaborations and partnerships within tourism and sport stakeholders to ensure the positive advancements of female sports events are sustained.

Tourism As an Agent of Cannabis Normalization: Perspectives from Canada

The 2018 legalization of cannabis in Canada provides an opportunity within a federally legalized context to offer recreational and leisure experiences that incorporate the purchase, consumption, production, and education of cannabis. The establishment of cannabis tourism as a tolerated and increasingly widespread and socially significant practice under the frameworks of legalization and normalization challenges its association with deviance in the tourism literature. The purpose of this article to rethink cannabis tourism as an agent of normalization. In adopting cannabis as a resource, the tourism industry sets standards that become embedded in a broader context of social acceptance. Evidence from a study that documents cannabis tourism in Canada in the first few years following legalization is used to illustrate how tourism suppliers have adopted cannabis as a resource. This article contributes a qualitative assessment of normalization to the literature through an examination of both a database of cannabis tourism-related businesses and the narratives of suppliers in the cannabis tourism industry. Tourism is conceptualized as an agent of normalization by illustrating how it facilitates the accessibility and availability, everyday prevalence, increased tolerance, and social and cultural accommodation of cannabis.

Evaluating Students' Behavioral Intentions Towards Ecotourism: an Extended Theory Of Planned Behavior Perspective

From an environmental standpoint, ecotourism has been drawn to attention by diverse communities all around the world. This empirical study aims to evaluate the behavioral intention of students by adopting an extended theory of planned behavior model by incorporating environmental concern and environmental knowledge from a developing country perspective. To get realistic output, structural equation modeling has been incorporated for systematic statistical analysis through using SMARTPLS 3.0, where data have been collected from 393 university students through a survey method. From an ecotourism point of view, a number of findings have been revealed in this study, such as students' attitude and perceived behavioral control have significant positive impacts on the behavioral intention towards ecotourism; results further proponed that environmental concerns have a significant effect on attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and behavioral intention towards ecotourism, environmental knowledge had no significant effect on the behavioral intention towards ecotourism. Finally, it had a positive impact on attitude towards ecotourism, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. On the basis of constructive analysis, theoretical and practical implications are depicted in the form of a contribution of knowledge, which will add value to the decision-making process of various stakeholders.