This is a study which seeks to measure the effectiveness of traditional media for the promotion of tourism in this digital age in KwaZulu-Natal South Africa. This study employed a descriptive research design and the questionnaire was used to collect the data. The findings revealed that traditional media and online media are more or less equally competitive for the promotion of tourism. Traditional media is still effective for the promotion of tourism in this digital age, most especially in the domestic market. The study concluded and recommended that tourism marketers and authorities need to come to terms with traditional media and online media coexistence. There is no need to rely on one media to do it all. Where traditional media lacks, online media must be there to make up the difference and enhance the tourist’s experience.

Social media is increasingly playing an important role in promoting tourism. The SAT Strategy (2013: 12) suggests that the opportunities in the tourism industry are so numerous but are not yet fully exploited where more marketing is needed to create more awareness. Leung, Law, Hoof, and Huhalis (2013: 5) add that travellers have widely adopted social media in order to search for information, organise, share and annotate their experiences and stories through micro blogs and blogs, online communities, media sharing sites, and other tools collaboratively. Tourism marketers are also considerably using social media to engage with actual and potential tourists throughout the decision making journey (Hudson and Thal 2013: 157). According to Hanekom (2015: 1) tourism is regarded as a critical component on the National Development Plan of South Africa because of its capacity to spur growth across the wider economy and create jobs. There is a need for ongoing efforts to promote the tourism industry for it to remain competitive and continue contributing to the welfare of the people. The aim of this study is to determine the influence of social media in promoting tourism business activities in Durban, South Africa. The primary objective of the research is to examine the value of social media in promoting tourism in Durban. Durban is regarded as the leading tourism destination in South Africa and is globally marketed by an official marketing unit known as Durban Tourism-a part of the eThekwini Municipality (Durban Tourism 2012.4). The study followed a quantitative research method in order to attain the set objectives of the study. Non-probability sampling technique was employed in recruiting the participants. Convenience and purposive sampling techniques were used to generate the sample population in this study. The target population for the study were all the tourists that visited the Durban tourist destinations. The researcher managed to secure a 90% response rate as 272 questionnaires out of 300 were collected. A structured self-administered questionnaire with 42 questions was used in the survey that was conducted to obtain primary data. The study used both descriptive and inferential statistics. Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) version 23.0 was used to analyse the data. The results suggest that social media is of strategic importance in promoting tourism in Durban. Theorists in the literature review highlight that the influence of social media is more pervasive and compelling than conventional mass media because of its ability to influence a larger number of people, the ability to deliver rich information, and the minimal effort required from individuals to make influence attempts (Guo (2014: 3). The majority of tourists indicated that they are active on social media platforms of which, WhatsApp and Facebook had the highest numbers of users. The study also revealed that social media is not an optional extra in the tourism industry and suggests that, tourism companies, like any other company, must participate on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and other social media sites in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive business environment (Kaplan and Haenlein 2010:62). The study recommended that tourism authorities must encourage South Africans to visit their own country, adopt and integrate new social media applications, use social media to create awareness of the positive transformations that have taken place in the city, and offer more secure online holiday-purchase provisions. The study recommends further research to be undertaken on the influence of specific social media sites to allow more understanding and use of appropriate social media platforms by marketing practitioners.

The aim of the study was to to ascertain the respondent’s familiarity with the knowledge and importance of customer relationship management in the local government authorities, as well as to ascertain the extent of the relationship they have with citizens from acquisition, development, retention and termination of the relationship. Explanatory research approach and judgemental sampling were employed. Questionnaire was used to collect data from twenty one local government authorities in Zimbabwe. The findings of the study revealed that customer relationship management forms a powerful strategy that local government authorities should apply to manage long-term relationships with their key stakeholders. The researchers concluded that the local government authorities should establish and maintain long lasting relationships with their stakeholders, in order to be competitive and attract investment.

This is a comparative study of the performance of online media and traditional advertising media for the promotion of tourism in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Durban Tourism (2013: 1) states that although KZN has done well to attract and hold major events in the Durban City, the number of visitors has declined since the last five years. There is a need for ongoing efforts to promote the tourism industry for it to remain competitive and continue contributing to the welfare of the people. Modern age advertising is divided into two main groups, traditional media and online media advertising. In the past, the tourism industry and other business organisations relied heavily on traditional media to market their products and services (Strategic Direction 2016: 9). However, the advancement of network technologies and the increasing penetration of the Internet have prompted increasing numbers of organisations around the world to use online (Internet) advertising in order to attract more customers in cyberspace, and to enhance their product sales and company profile. Goyal and Sharma (2013: 46) further claim that the advent of online media in tourism business has altogether revolutionised the whole system of performing business and brought about new ways of promoting business. In light of these developments, many marketing practitioners fear that traditional media have entered a death spiral and are no longer competitive in doing meaningful business. They believe that traditional media will succumb to technology innovations that revolutionised the promotion industry (Chao et al. 2012: 12). In this contemporary tourism marketing environment, the performance of traditional advertising media and online media needs to be revealed in order to guide media choice decisions by tourism marketers and authorities. This study employed a descriptive research design which aimed to achieve the objectives of the research through the use of mixed research methods. For this reason, two separate surveys were carried out. Non-probability sampling techniques were employed in recruiting the participants. The design employed two research instruments in the form of a structured questionnaire and structured interviews. Four hundred questionnaires were distributed to tourists at the Durban beachfront, Gateway Mall, Durban Station, and other public places that were convenient to the researcher and the researcher managed to get a 75% response rate. In addition to this, seven interviews were conducted with Durban Tourism and Tourism KwaZulu- Natal authorities, as well as marketing managers of selected Hotels and Travel Agents. The findings revealed that traditional media and online media are more or less equally competitive for the promotion of tourism. Traditional media is still effective for the promotion of tourism in this digital age, most especially in the domestic market. Though tourists used to turn to few sources, they now use various information outlets available at their disposal. Tourism marketers and authorities need to come to terms with traditional media and online media coexistence. There is no need to rely on one media to do it all. Where traditional media lacks, online media must be there to make up the difference and enhance the tourist’s experience. The results led to the creation of the tourism promotion framework which outlines that the tourism sector needs an integrated media choice approach. Further research on the same area covered by this study is required on an ongoing basis in order to keep abreast of the developments in the market. The media environment is unpredictable as completely different media can be developed and tastes and preferences of people change.

The main purpose of study is to analyse the credibility of traditional and online media for the promotion of tourism in the contemporary tourism marketing environment in Durban South Africa. Explanatory research design was employed and the questionnaire was used to collect the data. The study findings revealed that traditional media and online media are more or less equally competitive for the promotion of tourism. The study also revealed that international visitors have a positive attitude towards online media than traditional media while domestic tourists have a positive attitude towards traditional media than online media. Traditional media was revealed to be highly credible than the general perception of the people and it is a lot more credible than online media. The survival of traditional media is not threatened by online media and traditional media is still working well alongside online media. The study concluded and recommended that tourism marketers and authorities need to come to terms with traditional media and online media coexistence. There is no need to rely on one media to do it all. Where traditional media lacks, online media must be there to make up the difference and enhance the tourist’s experience.