This paper reports on the investigation of ICT adoption of tourism SMMEs in Ngaka Modiri Molema District of the North West Province in South Africa. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 200 tourism enterprises with the response rate of 68%. The results indicate, that the level of adoption of ICT is highly influenced by the perception of ICT adoption of tourism SMMEs. Most of the tourism SMMEs use ICT for business purpose and factors such as size of enterprise; location of enterprise; knowledge among owners; improvement of business performance in terms of revenue and financial resources and initial ICT costs have an impact on ICT adoption by tourism enterprises. / Thesis (MBA) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2011

The thesis focused on acquiring a sufficient level of understanding of how and to what extent tourism is implemented in livelihoods of the indigenous people (Maya and Garifuna) of Belize and if it truly benefits their lives. The research provided an assessment of actual and perceived economic, social and other effects of tourism on the livelihood of two communities in southern Belize - the inland community of Laguna and the coastal community of Hopkins Village. The study was approached from the pragmatic perspective and included the multiple case study framework, literature review, semi-structured interviews and observations. The research was conducted from January to February 2015. The results of the study demonstrated that the communities of Laguna and Hopkins are at different stages of integration into the tourism industry. The research revealed that the economic, social and cultural effects of tourism and its importance for local livelihoods varied between both villages and was dependant on a number of factors – geographical, cultural, social etc. The issues of preserving cultural heritage, problems of marginalization, lack of skills, exclusion and other were all identified as significant factors. A number of recommendations were made based on the results of the study. / May 2016

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Masters in Business Administration, Durban University of Technology, 2014. / This study is an attempt to shed light on how tour operators can help to promote tourism in the south coast region of KZN. Even though tourism claims to bring economic development to the tourist destinations, in some cases, the development of tourism has created important social transformation in the other sectors of the tourism destinations, where the relationship between other sectors of the tourism industry and tour operators was weak or even negative. For some people, this situation is no longer considered a sustainable way to travel and do business. Therefore, the tour operator’s business does not end at picking up and dropping off tourists at their booked accommodation. The aim is to explore the role of tour operators in promoting tourism in the south coast region of KZN. The objectives of the study are: to identify and examine the nature of the tour operators’ business; to identify and explore the role of tour operators in the tourism industry in sustaining their businesses; to identify the changes needed to improve the promotion and sustainability of both tourism in the south coast region of KZN and that of the tour operator; and to explore the challenges encountered by tour operators which hinder effective contribution to the economy of South Africa. This research explored and investigated the perceptions of the tour operators in the south coast region in KZN in terms of their business growth, their role as tour operators and the problems they may encounter in growing their small businesses. A quantitative research methodology was utilised to collect the primary data for this study. Data was collected through the use of a structured questionnaire. The sample size for the study was 50 tour operators. The results from the literature and primary study revealed some interesting findings from the objectives and each set of questions. The highlighted finding in the study revealed the need for tour operators to provide the best possible service as the tourists are important for the destination’s economy (TOI, 2008:108). The study revealed that tour operators have direct contact with clients when they take them on tours; hence, a personal one-on-one safe relationship is established with clients (Moutinho, 2011:161). The conclusions drawn from this study point to the lack of access to information that would enable the majority of tour operators to understand the tourism sector holistically. Furthermore, information available to tour operators owing to technological advancements has increased exponentially (e.g. internet access).

In recent years, the city has become a primary setting for a diversity of tourist activities. However, the nature of the urban experience, from the perspective of tourist-city interactions, has not been examined in detail. In this particular arena, the concepts of place image and the tourist experience are very relevant, as processes of tourist image formation and modification are linked to the formation of tourists' expectations. In tum, expectations can have the potential to influence tourist choices and spatial behaviour patterns, in the event of an actual visit. Certainly, probability of patronage of a tourist attraction would appear to relate directly to how well that location fits into the simplified 'cognitive map' held by the individual. Overall, knowledge of how individual and groups of tourists interact and acquire information about the urban environment has also been under researched. The thesis therefore examines the main interrelationships between tourists' place images, expectations and spatial behaviour. It introduces an approach for examining such relationships from a more holistic, interdisciplinary perspective than has been employed in previous tourism image and behaviour research. Notably, a longitudinal dimension is introduced for the study of image modification, using an innovative, multi-stage approach. By elaborating, critiquing and applying some of the key concepts in tourist imagery and spatial behaviour in the context of tourist-historic cities, the thesis identifies a connection between tourists' images and spatial behaviour. The UK historic cities of Exeter and Bath were used as case studies for the empirical application of the multi-method framework, and primary data were collected via questionnaires, an experimental panel of visitors and semi-structured interviews. As well as contributing new themes to current theoretical and conceptual debates, the empirical findings identify a clear niche for image-behaviour relationships as a highly relevant concept for tourism studies. In particular, tourists' spatial behaviour is shown to influence the content of tourists' urban images, and in tum, tourists' images of the city can predispose them to certain activity choices. Conclusions are also drawn regarding the influences of different 'image formation agents' and direct tourist experience of a city as a strong agent of image modification.

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

One of the most important research problems in tourism today, and one still to be thoroughly investigated, is the understanding of tourist decision-making processes and the way they are reflected in tourist spatial behaviour. Until very recently, the study of tourist decision-making and that of tourist flows went on independently of one another. Thus, geographers were detecting and describing tourist flows while psychologists and marketing analysts were trying to understand the destination-choice process. The current study merges these two aspects and addresses the following questions: A. What are the most important and frequently assessed destination attributes anticipated and desired by tourists? B. Is destination-choice behaviour (when based on different desired destination attributes) class-differentiated? C. Are spatial patterns of tourist flows also classdifferentiated? D. If class differentiation does exist, is there a causal connection between the manner of destination choice and tourists' consequent spatial behaviour? This study rests on two general assumptions. The first is that the process of selecting from among alternative tourist destinations is a direct outcome of the individual's evaluation of the aggregate value of utilities inherent in destination attributes. The second claims that the general tourist spatial pattern is a product of subpatterns created by different groups of tourists. The derived operational hypotheses suggest that both destination-choice and tourists' spatial behaviour are class-differentiated. Initially, the study involved the detection of the 25 most frequently assessed destination attributes. These were then introduced into a questionnaire examining the destination-choice and spatial behaviour of the North-Vest London Jewish community. Analysis of the data collected using Della Pave's 'Value Stretch' concept shows that destination-choice processes among Barnet's Jewish tourists are significantly class-differentiated. Significantly different tourist behaviour patterns were also found among them. The concept of 'Value Stretch' also revealed the possible causes of different tourist spatial behaviour emerging in the wake of class-differentiated destination-choice patterns.

No description available.