Durban - A subtropical coastal paradise? Tourism dynamics in a post-apartheid city

Abstract

Ce document examine l'évolution des dynamiques touristiques de la ville de Durban dans un contexte post-apartheided. La ville de Durban s’est imposée comme l'une des destinations touristiques les plus populaires d’'Afrique du Sud. En accord avec les diktats de l'apartheid, pour satisfaire les souhaits d’une minorité blanche, l’organisation de la ville avait ignoré les besoin de la majorité noire. Aujourd’hui la ville de Durban se repositionne sur l’échiquier touristique, portée par les changements politiques intérieurs et les opportunités des marchés touristiques internationaux et nationaux. Afin de se positionner avec succèssur ce marché, la ville de Durban renforce son image autour de la promotion son front de mer, des sports nautiques, du tourisme de congrés, et des animations culturelles. La transition démocratique des années 1990 a fourni de nombreux défis et oppportunités dans la première sur le plan touristique fut de se positionner sur le nouveau marché touristique noir. Cal passe aussi par les urgence à résoudre sur le plan de la criminalité, de l’hygiène et de la résorption des disparités sur le marché du travail, en particulier en termes de race et de l'égalité des sexes dans le secteur du tourisme. Les plus sérieuses limites pour le tourisme à Durban sont le chômage et la marginalisation de la majorité des African people.<br>This paper examines the changing fortunes of Durban as a tourist city from the apartheid to the post apartheid eras. Durban has long earned its prime position as one of South Africa’s most popular year‑round tourist destination. In keeping with the dictates of apartheid, the city catered largely for the needs of the white minority, while that of the black majority was largely ignored. With political changes and shifts in both the international and domestic markets, an effort had to be made to reposition tourism in the city. In order to successfully promote its tourism opportunities, Durban attempted to enhance its image and appeal by promoting its sports, convention and cultural attractions. The democratic transition of the 1990s provided many challenges, the most enduring of which was the need to cater for the emerging black tourist market. There was also an urgency to address problems of crime and grime, disparities in the distribution of labour market opportunities, especially in terms of race and gender within the tourism sector. A serious threat to tourism in Durban is unemployment and alienation of the majority of African people from the industry.

Sur la promenade

“…L'ouverture du front de mer se traduit aussi par l'arrivée de nouveaux touristes, ainsi en 1995, 80 % des locations de vacances sont prises par des Noirs, des Indiens et des coloured. Et pour le Nouvel An, 100 000 personnes se rassemblent sur le front de mer 56 . Ces communautés remplacent la classe moyenne blanche qui déserte alors Durban pour des stations balnéaires du sud de la ville ou sur l'Atlantique, au Cap.…”

The isimodeni style: traditional beadwork, Zulu trinket or South African sartorial tradition on Durban’s Golden Mile?

“…Controlling "Local Colour" and a responding Rickshaw aesthetic Ever since the first decade of the twentieth century, Durban has been South Africa's premier seaside destination (Hughes 2012, 141). Besides its port, and sugar industry, seaside tourism has been its primary source of income resulting in 15 000 tourists being attracted to the city in 1908 (Maharaj et al, 2008). Seaside tourism was bolstered by the decisions of city administrators, who set about controlling the racial and spatial features of the city, passing legislation to control the entry of black people, and restricting their domicile to separate residential locations (Popke and Ballard 2004, 101).…”

“…Between 1959 and 1966, Durban saw a development boom with seaside frontage absorbing four-fifths of the growth in hotel space and two-thirds of apartments in central Durban. By 1980 this district was firmly subject to apartheid era laws, implemented by the Beach and City Steering Committee (Morris and Preston-Whyte, 2001) who oversaw the racial zoning of beaches and supervised the DPA, mandated to ensure that the beachfront experience served white tourists through the control of informal trade (Maharaj et al 2008).…”

“Festivalisation” of Urban Governance in South African Cities: Framing the Urban Social Sustainability of Mega-Event Driven Development from Below

“…In fact, driving events beyond metropolitan scales forms a basis for the city's strategy to compete with metropoles on a global scale, thus claiming the status of a world class city in tourism, sports, and conventions alike [54] (cf. [55][56][57]). This results in a certain -normality‖ of a more or less constant state of emergency in city politics on inner-city planning and development, which is strongly expressed in the smooth embedding of negotiating and steering the actual Football World Cup (cf.…”