Revisiting the ‘Old’ South Africa: Excursions into South Africa's Tourist History under Apartheid, 1948–1990

Constraints to consumption of South Africa's national parks among the emerging domestic tourism market

“…Only a few domestic destinations catered for black South Africans, but the facilities were limited and often poor in quality (Grundlingh, 2006;Mkhize, 1994;Rogerson & Lisa, 2005). Since the birth of democracy in South Africa in 1994, a dramatic change in the composition and nature of domestic tourism has been witnessed.…”

“…Examples include the study of destination loyalty (Sun et al, 2013) and the effect of income (Yang et al, 2014) among Chinese; destination choice factors among Kenyans (Mutinda & Mayaka, 2012); travel motivations among Vietnamese (Bui & Jolliffe, 2011); intrapersonal constraints among Indian travellers (Anil et al, 2010); and the experiences of Israelis being tourists in their home country (Singh & Krakover, 2015).This study therefor aimed to contribute to knowledge of a domestic market in a developing country by exploring the travel motivations and constraints to domestic travel experienced by the emerging black domestic tourism market in South Africa. As point of reference, the Kruger National Park is used as an attraction that has held enduring popularity among members of the traditional South African domestic market (Grundlingh, 2006).…”

Restructuring the geography of domestic tourism in South Africa

“…This formal domestic tourism economy based upon the white market expanded to the point that by the 1980s South Africa exhibited one of the strongest and most well-developed domestic tourism economies outside of the developed world (Koch, Massyn, 2001;Rogerson, Lisa, 2005;Pandy, Rogerson, 2013). Grundlingh (2006) points out the most distinctive characteristic of domestic tourism, beyond the enduring popularity of Kruger National Park, was national government's initiatives to encourage white domestic tourism into the Black Homelands where a series of casino resorts were constructed during the 1970s and early 1980s. The casino resorts sought to give economic legitimacy to the sham independence of Bophuthatswana, Ciskei, Transkei and Venda (Rogerson, 2003).…”

South African Railways Postcard Calendars, 1961 to 1984

“…64 More than 100,000 visitors arrived in the 1950s, 65 although Grundlingh believes that tourism remained relatively low on the Nationalist government's agenda until the late 1950s when commercial jet aircraft and improvements to roads and infrastructure were effected. 66 The Sharpeville killings in 1960 had a temporary negative effect on international tourism. The SAR reacted to the 'uncertain political conditions in Africa' and the 'falling off' of international visitors by turning more and more to the domestic market for support for its local tours.…”

“…The official metanarrative produced by powerful bodies such as the SAR during the second half of the twentieth century did not necessarily produce explicit propaganda for the government, but did attempt to 'direct the tourist gaze' and create a 'positive' view of South Africa. 127 According to Groenewald, the magazine Panorama failed 'to contextualise their relentlessly positive reportage, and [were] selective in their portrayal of cultural experiences within South Africa', 128 and the same can be stated about the concurrent SAR postcards. They represent an idealized and unchanging image of the past and of a glowing future, directed by the imperatives of modernization, but neglect to engage with current realities.…”