In recent decades tourism has asserted its importance as the biggest employer
and foreign exchange earner in both the developing and developed countries.
Consequently, there has been increasing attention to tourism development as a
strategy to stimulate economic growth, local economic development and poverty
alleviation, especially in the developing countries. This study was undertaken
with the objective of determining the direct benefits of the growth in tourism to
the local communities in the vicinity of protected areas in South Africa's
Mpumalanga Province.
The tourism sector is strategically located within the economic mainstream as it
links easily with other sectors of the economy such as agriculture, hospitality,
transport and entertainment. It has added advantages, including the fact that the
tourist product is consumed at the destination. This offers local communities
opportunities in job creation, skills development, economic empowerment and
social development.
The study found that meaningful involvement of local communities in the
tourism industry through ownership of tourism-related enterprises was almost
non-existent. There were no meaningful linkages between the industry and the
local communities other than the communities' supply of unskilled labour.
There were also no programmes aimed at harnessing the phenomenal growth in
South Africa's tourism for the economic empowerment of local communities.
The economic empowerment of local communities need not be achieved through
the ownership of tourism-related enterprises only, but may also include
shareholding, outsourcing, affirmative procurement and social responsibility
programmes by the industry.The continued marginalisation of the local communities by the tourism industry
was attributed to unsatisfactory progress with the industry's transformation.
The launch of the Tourism Black Economic Empowerment Charter and Scorecard
in 2005 provided impetus for the transformation of South Africa's tourism
industry. However, more work still needs to be done in the identified areas of
ownership and control of tourism-related businesses, distribution of tourism
benefits and the development of tourism-related skills and entrepreneurial
culture in local communities.
The role of the private sector in stimulating community involvement in tourism
is particularly important. The private sector is singled out because of government
policy that tourism development would be regulated by government and be
private-sector driven. Furthermore, the private sector has the capacity and the
resources to mobilise, not only to improve the attractiveness and marketing of a
destination and the overall management of the tourism industry, but also to
build thriving local communities. / Development Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Development Studies)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/2079 |
| Date | 29 February 2008 |
| Creators | Monakhisi, Ngwako Philemon |
| Contributors | De Beer, F.C. (Prof.) |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (311 leaves) |
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