This study aimed to explore the model that can be used to improve local community participation in ecotourism development processes. The study was conducted at the communities adjoining the Oribi Gorge Nature Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A mixed methods design was adopted by the study during collection and analysis of data. A total of 384 respondents were sampled through convenience sampling technique. Questionnaires were used to collect data through face-to-face surveys. The study found that local communities had not been actively participating in ecotourism development processes, especially those undertaken within the rural setting as a result of different socio-economic factors including lacking necessary skills. This study asserts that this gap could be mitigated through implementation of local community participation improvement model (LCPIM) based on its potential for influencing enactment and/or amendment of policies on ecotourism development

This paper aims to explore how branding essentials can foster or derail heritage tourism growth. Brand management capabilities support heritage tourism destinations such as South Africa to achieve competitive advantage in the global tourism marketplace. Heritage tourism destinations in Africa operate within a highly competitive environment as most of them offer identical products and services to their clientele. Unique historical and political backgrounds associated with particular geographical regions foster their heritage tourism growth. Subsequently, in South Africa, different forms of tourism that exist within the heritage tourism niche such as cultural tourism have gained immense popularity as they attract numerous domestic and international tourists to heritage tourism sites. Branding as a composite of numerous essentials including, but not confined to, brand essence, brand image and brand loyalty, is believed to be a key factor that can either stimulate or hinder heritage tourism growth in tourist destinations including South Africa. A conceptual model has been developed in this paper, based on the interlinkages between the key essentials of destination branding and how they influence heritage tourism growth. This paper posits that there is a strong relationship and interrelatedness between destination branding and heritage tourism growth.

Nature-based tourism (NBT) is one of the most rapidly growing segments of the global service economic space. However, as its success and sustainability are dependent largely on human mobility, NBT is susceptible to economic disruptions triggered by the advent of unprecedented hazardous global phenomena. Literary evidence has revealed that certain strategies, such as strict health protocols and guidelines for tourism reactivation, have been implemented by tourist destinations to sustain tourism activities amid disastrous pandemics and epidemics. Health-related and general safety issues have been at the helm of policy and decision making in tourism-related initiatives to enhance the image of ideal tourist destinations. Such events, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic that introduced stringent regulations, have caused the tourism industry and its sub-sets to be completely transformed from being ‘normal sectoral environments characterized by optimistic economic prospects’ to ‘new normal environments characterized by uncertain economic prospects’. According to the business theory, the success of an enterprise is determined by assumptions relating to its environment, the accomplishment of its mission, its service competency, and the utilisation of resources that enable the achievement of its mission. The social exchange theory proposes interactions that create commitment and an enabling environment to build strong relationships under certain conditions. This is applicable to the tourist industry as tourists travel to destinations that adapt to unprecedented conditions on a par with evolving environmental demands.