Tourism background in South AfricaThe City of Tshwane is an administrative capital of the country where the Union buildings (the offices of the South African President) are located. It has a rich history. The city hosts the largest number of embassies in the world after Washington, DC (travelstartblog 2017). There are many tourist attractions in Pretoria including the Pretoria Zoo, Freedom Park, the Voortrekker Monument, just to mention a few. The status quo of Tshwane Tourism consists of a variety of components including tourism products, marketing, infrastructure, human resource, small micro medium enterprise (SMME) and entrepreneurial development and investment development plans.
Background:The cross-cutting nature of the tourism industry is one of the defining features or characteristics of the sector. There is a high rate of interdependence in the tourism industry; hence, it is dubbed to be having a multiplier effect (direct, indirect and induced).
Objectives:The aim of the study is to investigate the supply chain (SC) drivers and barriers of the businesses operating in the tourism industry in Pretoria.Method: A self-administered questionnaire was used to identify the drivers and barriers within the tourism SC (TSC). Convenience sampling was implemented among 179 businesses operating in Pretoria.
Results:The results revealed that customer relationship management is an SC driver for tourism operation in Pretoria. The barriers incorporate issues such as being insensitive to the environment, not developing environmental-friendly SCs and logistics practices and not being able to assess the performance against criteria defined in the organisation's policy. Moreover, the study presents the mitigation plan approach to deal with the TSC barriers in the near future.
Conclusion:Innovation that strengthens inter-sectoral planning and collaboration is pivotal for effective coordination.
The tourism industry has advantages and disadvantages that are evident in South Africa. One of the disadvantages in Cape Town is the growth of particularly urban tourism that has displaced domestic tourists due to the high prices charged. The development of the domestic tourism market is challenged by the dominant unemployment, poverty, and inequality that are affecting the South African economy. Yet, tourism consumption requires the availability of discretionary income as a necessary condition to afford to procure and consume tourism offerings. Government support is visible in the industry as it has the ability to create jobs and opportunities for entrepreneurs. Even though three cities in South Africa, Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg, dominate the urban tourism market, this can also be reflected in the flight frequencies via Johannesburg, which is the regional hub for Southern Africa.
The growth of tourism in South Africa after the end of apartheid can be associated with the growth of various forms of special interest tourism. Religious tourism as a form of special interest tourism is possibly the most important contributor of tourism geographical dispersion in South Africa. South Africa's religious tourism is dominated by Christian religious pilgrimage. Religious pilgrimages produce positive spin off for many destinations in South Africa, which may not be regarded as traditional tourism destinations. Religious-linked domestic travel continues to dominate domestic tourism expenditure. The existence of several African Initiated Churches such as the Zion Christian Church and the Nazareth Baptist Church attract several million worshippers during their religious pilgrimages, attracting worshippers beyond South Africa. Robben Island, which is a shrine for the anti-apartheid struggle, has a glorious Muslim resistance history, which is yet to be exploited by the Robben Island Museum. This chapter adds to the academic literature on religious tourism.
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