Urban tourism destinations in South Africa: Divergent trajectories 2001–2012

Abstract

Cities are growing tourism destinations in both developed and developing countries. For policymakers in many cities the promotion of tourism is a vital issue. The phenomenon of urban tourism has emerged as a significant research topic in tourism and urban studies. The South African experience has been one of the most well documented cases in urban tourism in the developing world. Most existing research is focussed on supply-side issues of the establishment of new tourism products in cities or of the impacts of growing urban tourism. This article examines urban tourism from a demand-side perspective and interrogates the performance of South Africa's eight metropolitan areas as tourism destinations over the period [2001][2002][2003][2004][2005][2006][2007][2008][2009][2010][2011][2012].The analysis reveals that the metropolitan areas as a group are expanding in significance as tourism destinations. Divergent pathways or trajectories of development are apparent in terms of unpacking the performance of the eight different areas.

Unpacking the geography of tourism innovation in Western Cape Province, South Africa

“…However, recent analyses reveal that in contrast to strong tourism growth between 1994 and the early 2000s (cf. City of Cape Town, 2013) and despite its continued popularity as an international tourism destination, the performance of Cape Town's tourism economy has slowed in recent years (Rogerson, Rogerson, 2014a;Rogerson, 2015). This highlights the importance of innovation to enhance local and regional destination competiveness in Cape Town and the Western Cape.…”

Tourism Innovation in the Global South: Evidence from the Western Cape, South Africa

“…Innovation is vital for the competitiveness of the regional tourism economy as a result of its weakened performance observed in recent years (cf. Rogerson & Rogerson, ). Despite the considerable growth of tourism research in South Africa over the past decade, questions about innovation in tourism have remained absent from local research, economic development and policy debates (cf.…”

Restructuring the geography of domestic tourism in South Africa

“…The declining municipalities for domestic tourism are all situated in the Western Cape, Northern Cape or Free State provinces. Most striking are the declines recorded in the two metropolitan destinations of Cape Town and Mangaung (Bloemfontein) (Rogerson, Rogerson, 2014b). The largest decline is shown in Cape Town.…”

“…The five leading domestic destinations in both 2001 and 2012 are all metropolitan areas, namely the inland centres of Ekurhuleni, Tshwane (Pretoria) and Johannesburg and the two coastal centres of Ethekwini (Durban) and Cape Town. Indeed, taking in the other three metropolitan areas of Buffalo City (East London), Nelson Mandela Bay (Port Elizabeth) and Mangaung (Bloemfontein), South Africa's eight metropolitan areas were the destination for 7.2 million domestic trips in 2001, rising to 10.4 million by 2010 but with a decline to 9.4 million by 2012 (Rogerson, Rogerson, 2014b). Figure 3 provides a perspective on the changes occurring in patterns of domestic tourism between 2001 and 2012.…”