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Research issues around tourism development in small town South Africa have generated a growing scholarship. With the announcement in May 2023 by the World Health Organisation of the end of the COVID-19 pandemic the paper reflects both on the pandemic experiences for tourism in South African small towns and of relevant initiatives for revival at the beginning of the post COVID-19 era. Specifically, the aim in this paper to extend the literature on tourism in small town South Africa by focusing on the context of small town recovery from COVID-19 analysing the example of the Overstrand, Africa’s first UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy. The study shows that under certain circumstances amenity-rich small town localities can be resilient to external shocks such as the pandemic. For the resilience and recovery of small-town tourism destinations it is argued that place-based responses are critical.

Domestic tourism has garnered much attention recently as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, being identified as a key solution to the post-pandemic recovery. The worth of domestic tourism prior to the pandemic, however, despite its tremendous economic value, has largely been overshadowed in scholarship and amongst many governments in lieu of the more glamorous international tourism. Notwithstanding, the current emphasis on domestic tourism, a gap still exists in the literature on specific sub-segments of the domestic tourist market and understanding their profiles and perceptions in order to address issues related to growing such markets and thus contributing to the overarching growth of domestic tourism and strengthening its role in the recovery of the tourism sector. This paper thus seeks to unpack the profile of 297 domestic road trip tourists surveyed from the Gauteng province of South Africa. The results outline the socio-demographic characteristics in terms of age, race, income and education levels, and their travel preferences and behaviour. Findings reveal facets linked to the importance of youth tourists, the need to address access to travel, availability of products and facilities geared to the needs of domestic tourists, the conditions of roads and the ease of travel, as well as issues related to financial access to tourism through pricing and affordability. The study provides a springboard to better understand the domestic road trip market by uncovering key socio-demographic components of this lesser studied market in the context of South Africa and provides recommendations for addressing the issues at hand.

AbstractThis paper uses bibliometric methods to quantitatively analyze global scientific performance and current research fields in the field of global climate change. The intention was to enhance knowledge of the scientific understanding of climate change. The data used in this analysis is based on 259 papers by scholars worldwide that were published in 498 academic journals in the Scopus database between 2006 and 2022 to investigate the methods used in scientific research to study climate change. The scientific knowledge, changes in research hotspots, worldwide geographic distribution of research, and country-specific focus are all summarized in our analysis. The findings indicate that (1) Throughout the era under investigation, the goal of research on climate change has evolved from comprehending the climate system to developing climate technology and regulations, like laws and efficient energy use; (2) The idea of climate change is reflected in modern models of energy efficiency, renewable energy transition, carbon pricing, and circular economy. The idea of climate change, seen from an overall viewpoint, affects carbon footprint, social and economic impact, rising carbon dioxide levels, and carbon sequestration; (3) since 2006, research on climate change vulnerability has grown rapidly, and its publications are widely disseminated in numerous source journals; in terms of global climate research change, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences are the two most productive institutions and Water resource-related disputes and collaboration. Our research can be used by scholars and policymakers to investigate future research goals and to consider the current directions of climate change studies. Future studies can address issues related to human health risks, inequality in society and the economy, policy and regulation in the context of global climate change, and the rate at which emissions will zero out. This study’s primary goal is to close this gap and improve our comprehension of the body of current literature.

AbstractThe objective of this paper is to explore the relationship between business information, business networking, access to finance and financial performance of social enterprises. It broadens on theoretical threads from the perspective of resource-based view theory and signalling theory. Hypotheses are tested to assess the possible effect of business information, business networking, access to finance as well as financial performance of social enterprises. A cross-sectional survey was conducted by using the standardized questionnaire to collect primary data from a total of 384 owners/directors of social enterprises. Simple random sampling method was applied to select social enterprises functioning in the country. A Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling was applied to examine the data. This study found a positive and significant direct relationship between business information, access to finance, and business networking on financial performance of the social enterprises in Pakistan. The results supported the moderation effect of access to finance on business information and financial performance whereas, access to finance does not have a significant moderation impact between business networking and financial performance. Therefore, this study recommends that social enterprises in Pakistan should provide great emphasis on business networking and business information to introduce financially creative solutions for the societal problems, which are essential for overall wellbeing of different stakeholders of the social enterprises.

AbstractThis paper examines the role of institutional investors foreign-owned firms and government-linked companies, in improving firm performance through the channel of IT investment decision. The data sample comprises information collected from the annual reports of 231 companies listed on Bursa Malaysia, spanning the years 2010 to 2019. This study concludes, on the basis of the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) dynamic model, which mitigates the endogeneity issue linked to the equity multiple value model, that institutional ownership moderates the relationship between IT investment and firm performance in a positive direction. The results of the study shed light on the capacity of institutional investors to allay apprehensions regarding agency problems that arise from the rent-seeking conduct of managers. The implications of this finding are both theoretical and practical, given that IT expenditures continue to constitute a substantial proportion of the capital budgets of organisations. However, several studies indicate that there is no direct relationship between firm IT investment levels and firm performance. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by examining the influence of institutional investors on IT investment decisions. It does so by integrating agency theory, which explains performance shortfalls, and corporate governance, which oversees and controls managers’ inappropriate investment choices, thereby illuminating the antecedents of IT investment decisions. The present investigation would furnish significant insights for stakeholders, investors, and the general public, thereby augmenting their understanding of the pivotal significance of institutional ownership and guaranteeing that investments in IT are adequately regulated.

AbstractOver the last decade, rapid advances in information systems (ISs) have greatly reshaped and changed the nature of doing business and how its performance is measured, with Electronic Auditing (E-auditing) emerging as a pivotal element in improving organizational efficiency. This study addresses the challenges faced in manually implementing audits and underscores the necessity for transitioning to electronic audit systems. The manual approach has limitations regarding the accuracy of operations, so to enhance performance, E-auditing is now imperative. The purpose of the study is to evaluate E-auditing in the public sector of Saudi Arabia, utilizing DeLone and McLean’s information system model (DM ISM). The focus is on vital factors including information quality, system quality, service quality, system usage and user satisfaction and their influence on the performance of internal audit departments, particularly during the challenges posed by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. This research employs a quantitative approach, utilizing a self-administered survey questionnaire to collect data from E-auditing users in the Saudi public sector. The study applies partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to validate the gathered data. Findings reveal that information quality and system quality significantly influence E-auditing usage. While service quality exhibits no marked effect on usage, the study establishes a strong relationship between E-auditing usage and user satisfaction. Effective E-auditing usage and satisfied users contribute convincingly to the improved performance of internal audit departments. The paper concludes with implications, limitations, and suggestions for future studies.

AbstractThe widespread coronavirus (COVID-19) has sparked considerable worry among businesses worldwide, including Ghana. Despite a growing body of information on market and business reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic, there are few to no studies that have empirically examined the direct impact of COVID-19 on a firm’s financial reporting. The paper employed a panel regression model to examine COVID-19 impacts on a firm’s financial reporting delay over 3 years for 100 firms in Ghana comprising 30 listed firms and 70 private firms. The study’s empirical findings indicate COVID-19 and financial report delays have a positive and significant relationship. The study also established that the positive relationship is more pronounced for low-performing and private firms. The study recommended that a firm’s operational strategies be improved and well-coordinated during pandemics to avoid reporting and subsequent operational delays.