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This study investigates the impact, recovery and resilience of COVID-19 on South Africa's Limpopo Province's tourism industry. The study utilises surveys (n = 115) and interviews (n = 50) to examine the impact, recovery, resilience, success and challenges of various tourism-related businesses, including national parks, restaurants, and hotels. Despite minimal government support and significant challenges like erratic utilities, high inflation, and a global economic downturn, the sector showed resilience, with few business failures. While some businesses in the accommodation sector diversified into areas like student accommodation, some survived by cutting the number of staff, tapping into savings, borrowing and adopting various cost containment measures to survive the pandemic. Post the pandemic, the sector faces issues like decreased demand due to technological changes in meetings and conferences and employee mental health concerns. The study underscores the need for strategic management and specific policy interventions to ensure the sector's resilience and survival post-pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hailstorm research in tourism remains scant despite growing evidence of increasing hailstorms and associated damages to destinations and attractions due to climate change. This study examined hailstorm occurrence, damage and loss, preparedness and adaptation, recovery and resilience resilience-building at the Sun City Resort in South Africa. Data was collected from a staff survey (n=131), staff interviews, guest comments, and relevant Sun City Resort secondary documentation such as storm recovery and annual reports. It emerged that the 2018 hailstorm caused significant damages, yet no effective early warning systems were in place. This led to significant economic and non-economic losses, such as damage to infrastructure, cancelled activities and negative publicity. There was also no long-term strategy towards hailstorm resilience, with the resort adopting a reactive rather than proactive approach. The study contributes to climate change-induced hailstorm research in tourism while informing tourism destination resilience-building practices. Suggestions are made linked to building back and forth better in terms of hailstorm risk preparedness by the Sun City Resort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to climate change's effects, protected areas, particularly national parks, face conservation challenges, negatively impacting tourism. Sustainable tourism requires understanding the climate and conservation challenges in national parks and their implications for tourism. Marakele National Park in South Africa faces climatic and conservation challenges. A purposive and snowball sampling strategy was used to select study participants. An in-depth interview was conducted with the employees of South African National Parks, including top managers, scientists, field, section, honorary rangers, conservationists, and hospitality staff. A perception survey involving 871 tourists was conducted along with field observations, archival data, and an analysis of archival data. The study results indicate that rainfall levels in the national park vary greatly from season to season and are declining. A warm climate and high rainfall were also observed, and increased drought episodes. The observed climatic extremes led to several ecological challenges, including bush thickening and encroachment, intense soil erosion, wetland degradation and an increased frequency of wildfires. The environmental challenges impact the park's aesthetic value, affect tourist comfort and perceptions, and cause employee discomfort. The paper recommends that the park develops anticipatory action plans for the identified climatic and tourist attraction risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Victoria Falls town and the treatment of sustainability issues thereof. Making use of a survey, interviews and field observations for data generation, the results show that Victoria Falls town hosts a wide range of GHG emitting and ecologically sensitive hospitality infrastructure, including hotels and tour operators. The primary sources of GHG emissions come from the hospitality subsector, followed by the use of road transport, which is dominated by old Japanese vehicles. The study recommends a raft of measures to curb carbon emissions, including the use of renewable energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change remains one of the biggest challenges facing the world today and is characterised by extreme weather events such as heatwaves, extreme droughts and floods. Regardless of the threat posed by climate change to the tourism business, there are still gaps in tourism business perceptions and knowledge of climate change. This research investigated tourism business operators' perceptions, knowledge and attitude towards climate change at Victoria Falls. In this study that took a multidisciplinary approach, primary data were gathered using an online QuestionPro survey instrument and interviews. The survey was administered door-to-door to the identified 122 potential tourism business operators and other key stakeholders. A sample of 77 completed surveys (a 63% response rate) was realised. The study found that there was a general understanding of the causes and impacts of climate change on the tourism business operators, even though the tourism industry was not taking full responsibility for its role in causing climate change. The respondents also cited challenges and barriers in dealing with climate change, including the lack of knowledge and finance, ignorance and a lack of technical capacity. Climate change was deemed to have caused disruption in tourism activities at Victoria Falls because of reduced water flow levels at the waterfall and the destruction of tourism infrastructure during extreme weather events. The research recommended improvement in climate change knowledge, climate financing and build capacity to help the tourism industry meet both the Sustainable Development Goals and commitments to the Paris Agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism is a crucial development sector that employs thousands of people and contributes to addressing the triple challenge of poverty, inequality and unemployment in previously disadvantaged communities. In Zimbabwe, tourism is a fundamental tool for development that depends on the rich natural resource base to attract international tourists. This paper assesses the evidence of climate variability and change and its potential impact on the global tourist resort of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. The research made use of over 40 years of meteorological and hydrography data that were supplemented by an online tourist survey that got 369 responses from across the world. Data analysis was conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences and Microsoft Excel Analysis ToolPak. Overall, it emerged that, indeed, climate variability and change is taking place. There has been an increase in the maximum and minimum temperature. The largest temperature increase was recorded in October. A slight increase in rainfall was observed, albeit increased incidence of extreme rainfall and drought events. Delays in the onset of the rainfall season were noticeable with a shift from October to November. Extreme hydrological variations were evident in the flow regime of the falls. The paper concludes that the observed climate variability and change trends have potential effects on the tourism industry, particularly as expressed by the responses from the online survey, which favoured high water flow regimes as providing the best view of the falls. The paper recommends improved communication with tourists including a new climate and hydrological calendar for the resort to manage tourists' expectations in the light of the noted change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This study examined the environmental impacts of the aviation industry on the Victoria Falls tourism route and sustainability measures being put in place to deal with aviation's impact on climate change. Primary data that includes an online survey of 370 tourists and secondary data from IATA Schedule Reference Analyzer among other sources were used in establishing the carbon footprint of the sector and an assessment of measures being undertaken to cut back on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in this case study. The study revealed that there is a correlation between the aviation industry and climate change. Despite efforts to cut back on carbon emissions, such efforts are not sufficient to result in meaningful cutbacks in GHG emissions owing to the inadequate regulatory framework and capacity challenges. Currently, the tourism sector on the Victoria Falls route outpaces technological gains aimed at achieving carbon-neutral growth. It is in African aviation's best interests to cut back on carbon emissions, which can be done through public and private partnerships by taking advantage of available research. In such efforts, transparency and accountability will assist in steering the aviation industry towards the green path. Further research is recommended on how Africa can tap into alternative aviation fuels as a measure of achieving sustainable development goals. Highlights • Aviation is the single largest contributor to climate change in the tourism industry. • Aviation industry's carbon footprint is set to continue to grow despite technological innovation advancement in the sector. • The aviation industry is highly unlikely to achieve the carbon neutral growth by 2020. • There is a lot of improvement that is needed to be done to ensure that the aviation industry in Africa reduces its carbon footprint. • There is a need for continued research and innovation in green technology and sustainable aviation fuels to ensure the sector get closer to meeting its targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil erosion has become a common feature in certain national parks across the global biomes, and national parks in the Savanna biome of South Africa have not been spared. Given their prominence in hosting large land mammals that contribute significantly to the tourism sector, the vulnerability of the parks to soil erosion merits attention. This study examines soil erosion status in the Savanna biome national parks of South Africa to recommend management practices aligned with the degree of erosion susceptibility. The results show that erosion rates across the national parks range between 0 and 25 t/ha/yr, and only a few have soil loss rates above 25 t/ha/yr. The Kgalagadi National Park has the lowest erosion rates, with a water erosion severity index (ESI) of 0. The Kruger and Mokala National Parks have low erosion rates, with an ESI of 0.017 and 0.01, respectively. The Mapungubwe National Park has moderate rates of soil loss, with an ESI of 0.023, while Marakele has the highest rates of soil erosion, with an ESI of 0.39. Soil erosion by water action is generally a minor environmental threat for the Kgalagadi, Kruger and Mokala National Parks. However, for Mapungubwe, soil erosion has a moderate threat, while in Marakele, it imposes a very high threat level. The different rates of soil erosion are attributed to the heterogeneous biophysical conditions of the Savanna biome, as well as different historical land use patterns across the parks. Climate change could be exacerbating the susceptibility of national parks to soil erosion. Park-specific management strategies that consider historical land use patterns and biophysical conditions within a climate change context are recommended. • Soil erosion in Savanna South African national parks range between 0 and 25 t ha−1 yr−1. • Erosion severity is lowest in Kgalagadi National Park (ESI = 0). • Erosion severity is highest in Marakele National Park (ESI = 0.39). • The Kruger, Mokala and Mapungubwe have low to moderate erosion rates. • The heterogeneous biophysical conditions and historical land use influence erosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]