Search

Culture and heritage contribute to South Africa’s competitiveness as a tourism destination. By focusing on South Africa’s cultural diversity as a unique competitive factor, more tourists can be reached, thereby increasing the impact of South Africa’s attraction as a tourist destination. However, cultural tourism is challenging to manage because cultural attractions vary in popularity and attract different types of tourists who want to experience culture differently. Although research has already been done in South Africa to promote cultural tourism, a gap in the literature still needs to be bridged. There is a particular gap in the literature on Afrikaner culture tourism. This study intended to determine which cultural elements attract tourists to Afrikaner cultural attractions. Cultural elements can be depicted and presented at a cultural attraction to give a better understanding of the culture in question. Cultural elements can be evaluated according to the importance of the element within the culture and what contribution the element makes to the cultural attraction. Cultural elements can be divided between tangible and non-tangible cultural elements. Tangible cultural elements can be moving or static but can be physically touched, such as, for example, monuments and clothing. Non-tangible cultural elements cannot be handled but transmit cultures, such as music and language. This study aimed to perform an empirical analysis to determine which cultural elements should be presented at an Afrikaner cultural attraction in South Africa. The empirical study consisted of an exploratory research design. It was executed by employing the qualitative method, involving 15 research participants who were followers of six Afrikaner cultural attractions on Facebook websites. A semi-structured interview schedule was used to put questions to the research participants. The interview schedule comprised mainly open-ended questions on demographic information, Afrikaner cultural elements and creative principles of tourism. The results were captured via voice recordings, transcribed into Word and categorised in themes and sub-themes according to Creswell’s six data analysis steps. With regard to the demographic profile, most participants were men, with an average age of 44. A high level of education was evident in the respondents. It was clear from the results that the 15 participants visited Afrikaner cultural attractions many times, while 80% of the participants recently visited the Voortrekker Monument. Orania is the most popular Afrikaner cultural attraction for the participants. From participants’ answers, the term “cultural elements” can be seen as shared cultural goods with which individuals within a culture can relate and give meaning to the culture because it is essential and unique. The study filled a gap by determining that tourists want to experience the following cultural elements at an Afrikaner cultural attraction: history, language, music and dance, food, traditional way of life, faith, monuments, traditions, traditional clothing, cultural festivals, handicrafts, artefacts and archaeological remains, cultural values, art, heroes, architecture and traditional houses. Furthermore, the researchers determined the five most important Afrikaner cultural elements: history, language, music and dance, food and the traditional way of life. Within the history-culture element, tourists want to learn about Afrikaner history, from the European heritage to today, the Great Trek and how Afrikaners stand together, and the wars and battlefields of Afrikaner history. The language-culture element’s presentation must teach tourists about the origins of Afrikaans; specific Afrikaans words, and Afrikaans literature and drama. The Music and Dance cultural element of the Afrikaner culture must focus on folk plays and folk songs and present contemporary “sokkie” and Afrikaans music for tourists. During their experience of the Afrikaner food culture element, tourists want to learn about traditional foods and ways of food preparation, such as biltong, chutney, koeksisters, bobotie and barbecued meat. According to the participants, the traditional way of life of the Afrikaner must, for tourists, showcase the social and community life, such as storytelling and togetherness around meals, as well as the outdoor life, such as farming activities. The study’s recommendations are aimed at marketers and managers of existing or prospective Afrikaner cultural attractions, academics, and the general public, focusing on Afrikaner cultural tourism. The study filled a gap by determining the most important Afrikaner cultural elements for tourists to experience at an Afrikaner cultural attraction. The literature contribution can also be valuable in practice because it is the first study to offer guidelines as to which Afrikaner cultural elements should be the focus of destination and attraction managers and marketers. The study also recommends that cultural attractions use technology to attract and retain a younger market. It is also essential that attractions make a more significant investment in the training of their staff, seeing that the successful presentation of especially the non-tangible elements is largely linked to the quality training of staff. The study also emphasises that combining cultural and food experiences can give an attraction a competitive advantage. Furthermore, the study’s contribution does not have to be limited to Afrikaner culture because unique cultural elements also exist within every other cultural context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: South African tourism is evolving towards accommodating disabled people. Within the same standpoint, the country receives ageing tourists as a major international tourism market from the Global North, whose access needs are similar to disabled people. The present article explored 'blind and blank spots' in the extant literature on tourism–impairment disability as a synchronised field within academic research to provide theoretical insights and gaps for the disability-tourism research community to consider the composite concept instead of individualistic concepts. Objective: The objectives were: (1) to track knowledge development from 1990 to 2018 using a narrative literature review approach and (2) to justify future research areas previously overlooked and understudied within a tourism–impairments–disability perspective in South Africa and beyond. Method: A narrative literature review search strategy was used. Keywords and synonymous terms were used in electronic searches of Scopus, ScienceDirect, Sabinet Online, Emerald Insights Journals, African Journals and Google Scholar. The literature screening process used predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria for the data source. Content thematic analysis was adopted for the present study. Results: The findings reflect a dearth of tourism–impairments–disability research in South Africa. Nonetheless, there is an observable pattern of slow growth in research after the 2000s. The extant literature is skewed towards the tourism supply side and sporadic on tourism demand (tourist experiences), education and skills development. Conclusions: It is clear that the absence of scientifically developed knowledge on disability–impairments–tourism affects inclusive tourism growth. Therefore, the research community should consider disability-inclusive (accessible) tourism management, human resources and marketing practices and knowledge for teaching material in future research. Contribution: The article mapped and provided insights that sets a research agenda for tourism research community to see the gaps in literature and/or knowledge for accessible tourism (disability-inclusive) tourism to be a game changer as found by UNWTO (2020) with low-resources setting. Thereby setting a tone towards call for more research that can uncover an economic narrative that shows a relationship between skills development, labour and consumer markets for the participation of diverse disabled persons as such is shown as understudied in Low-to-Middle income earning countries like South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism and destination competitiveness is a popular research topic and has become more important in recent years. This is evident from the amount of research conducted on the topic. However, competitiveness is mainly researched from a supply perspective, which solely captures the opinions of tourism experts and consequently creates the need to obtain the opinions of tourists as well. This paper provides an enhanced understanding of the opinions foreign tourists visiting South Africa have of the competitiveness of the country as tourist destination. Data was obtained by distributing questionnaires to tourists at OR Tambo International Airport who were returning home after visiting South Africa. A total of 619 usable questionnaires were obtained. The findings revealed that (1) The factors identified in this study differ from similar supply-side studies on South Africa; (2) Respondents considered unique tourism aspects the most important element of competitiveness; (3) The second most important competitiveness factor, tourism services, consists of internal factors only; (4) Safety and security is an essential competitiveness aspect regardless of the destination or research approach used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of the tourism sector has been subjected to massive changes in demand and technology, as well as increasing competition amongst destinations to such a degree that product diversification is now core to development strategies in order to maintain competitiveness and remain abreast of contemporary trends.The study sought to determine the demand for ecotourism products in view of developing a diversification strategy. Selfadministered questionnaires were used to collect demand-side data at Maun and Kasane airports; these data were then analysed quantitatively. Findings revealed a strong preference for wildlife/wilderness and nature products, whereas events and hunting were least liked. The country attracts mature tourists who prefer soft adventure and activities that prioritize conservation, interpretation,and environmental education.Factors related to entertainment, the construction of entertainment facilities, a post office, and golf courses were strongly resented. It was established that related diversification, focused on expanding services and enhancing existing products, is the most appropriate strategy. Practically, the research offers a specific diversification strategy based on ecotourism, detailing how and what to diversify. The study makes a valuable contribution to demand-side diversification literature as well as empirical research, which is lacking in Botswana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]