This paper is a research review of crime prevention in South Africa using a qualitative research approach. Africa is a tourist destination that offers international tourists unique cultural, natural and adventure experiences. South Africa is one of Africa’s top destinations and features Big Five safari destinations, wine routes, natural experiences, cultural villages, spectacular coastlines among other must-see experiences that appeal to international tourists travelling to the continent. However, South Africa holds the reputation of one of the highest crime rates in the world and is therefore regarded as a high-risk destination. This negative reputation directly influences tourism demand and supply and indirectly impacts on both jobs and gross income in the industry. It is said that the three primary conditions for the successful development of tourism in a set location are “peace, safety and security”. Therefore, without them, tourists are likely to be victimized, negatively affecting the image of the country and income derived from tourism. It is the prime responsibility of the tourism sector to safeguard tourists and tourism development in their respective regions. The article focuses on measures to remedy crime against tourists in South Africa. It considers the country's mitigation strategies from 1997-2019 (in the public sector) to combat crime, sets out guidelines for promoting safety and security and highlights implementation challenges. Show less

This paper is a research review of crime prevention in South Africa using a qualitative research approach. Africa is a tourist destination that offers international tourists unique cultural, natural and adventure experiences. South Africa is one of Africa’s top destinations and features Big Five safari destinations, wine Show more

Dark tourism is one of the fastest-growing tourism industries around the world, inextricably linked to museums with dark pasts. These museums are attractions and destinations associated with death, tragedy or suffering, and highlight some of the darkest human histories. For decades, much research on dark tourism in South Africa has focused on Robben Island as a prison that is most notorious with detailed literature. However, a lesser-known unique museum serves as a dark tourist destination in South Africa’s capital city. The Kgoši Mampuru II Museum (referred to as the Kgoši Mampuru II Management Area), formerly the Pretoria Central Prison, is a museum with a dark heritage that interprets the tragedy that took place during the apartheid regime. This paper gives a brief historical background of the Kgoši Mampuru II Prison and includes the major political execution that took place from 1961 to 1989 during apartheid. The paper examines the operation of the South African Department of Correctional Services and how it managed to convert this Pretoria-based prison into a museum, on the premise that it remains a current correctional centre for prisoners. It remains unclear how the transition from prison as a site of capital punishment developed into a museum. This paper explores these challenges and discussions from a dark tourism and museum experience perspective. Conclusions suggest that this research has the potential to occupy a critical niche, since prison museums, as a form of dark tourism, are largely unknown and can fill a major gap in South African museology. Show less

Dark tourism is one of the fastest-growing tourism industries around the world, inextricably linked to museums with dark pasts. These museums are attractions and destinations associated with death, tragedy or suffering, and highlight some of the darkest human histories. For decades, much research on dark tourism in South Show more

At the end of 2019, a new crisis emerged in the world - COVID-19 - which literally devastated the tourism industry worldwide. In order to try to minimise the spread of COVID-19, the government implemented a strict national lockdown, but this unfortunately had a negative impact on many sectors within the tourism industry. In the light of this, many scholars argued that technology such as virtual reality (VR), would contribute to the recovery of tourism. This article considers this phenomenon by filling a gap in the literature regarding the role of VR in the tourism industry in the global South by focusing on South Africa. The key question that arises, namely can VR save tourism in South Africa in the wake of COVID-19? To address this question, the study uses three methodological approaches: case studies, a conceptual research method and open-ended interviews. The results from the study showed that VR offers tourism numerous benefits, but at the same time poses a threat to the industry. Despite this, the study concludes that VR cannot save the tourism industry in South Africa currently as it faces certain critical obstacles in this context. Show less

At the end of 2019, a new crisis emerged in the world - COVID-19 - which literally devastated the tourism industry worldwide. In order to try to minimise the spread of COVID-19, the government implemented a strict national lockdown, but this unfortunately had a negative impact on many sectors within the tourism industry. In the Show more

South Africa is a tourist destination that offers international tourists unique cultural, natural and adventure experiences. The country is one of Africa’s top destinations and features Big Five safari destinations, wine routes, natural experiences, cultural villages, spectacular coastlines among other must-see experiences that appeal to international tourists travelling to the continent. However, the country holds the reputation of one of the highest crime rates in the world and is therefore regarded as a high-risk destination. This negative reputation influences tourism demand and supply directly, as well as indirectly, as it impacts on both jobs and gross income in the industry. It is said that the three primary conditions for the successful development of tourism in a set location are “peace, safety and security”.1 Therefore, without those primary conditions, tourists are likely to be victimized, negatively affecting the image of the country and income derived from tourism. It is the prime responsibility of the tourism sector to safeguard tourists and tourism development in their respective regions. The research focus of this Master’s dissertation in Heritage and Cultural Tourism is on the safety and security concerns in South Africa. In other words, it considers the interrelationship between tourism and crime in the country, by exploring the broader dimensions of tourism security and wellbeing. Show less

South Africa is a tourist destination that offers international tourists unique cultural, natural and adventure experiences. The country is one of Africa’s top destinations and features Big Five safari destinations, wine routes, natural experiences, cultural villages, spectacular coastlines among other must-see experiences Show more

Lighthouses have long been the focus of naval navigation and romantic literature. Until recently, this was seen as the core purpose of the coastal structures, but lighthouses have begun to take on a new role in the sphere of tourism, hosting visitors, overnight tourists and recognising the local history and culture through museums and various eateries. This dissertation seeks to explore the role of coastal and marine tourism internationally, and the positioning of the lighthouses as elements of coastal and marine tourism. Along with the success of Lighthouse Tourism abroad, the prospect of developing Lighthouse Tourism as a form of coastal tourism in South Africa will be analysed. Alongside the study of the potential for pharological tourism, the potential of developing a Lighthouse Tourism trail, similar to those on international coastlines will be examined. These concepts of the historical value of lighthouses, their potential for tourism and route development form the main components of discussion for this dissertation. Show less

Lighthouses have long been the focus of naval navigation and romantic literature. Until recently, this was seen as the core purpose of the coastal structures, but lighthouses have begun to take on a new role in the sphere of tourism, hosting visitors, overnight tourists and recognising the local history and culture through Show more

When the global protests of Black Lives Matter commenced, it showed that the future of what this dissertation terms ‘extreme dissonant heritage’ sites is uncertain and are thus often questionable items on tour itineraries. In comparison, dark heritage sites are shown as more stable long-term sites for tour itineraries. The research explores possible steps to effectively curate extreme dissonant heritage sites to be utilised as tourist products. The thesis considers if the law protects dissonant heritage and not only dark heritage sites. Furthermore, it considers the history of legislation with changes of regimes in South Africa and Russia and its impact on monuments. The challenge is to manage public perception, and to recognise the trade-off that often occurs between public opinion and tourism, which informs decisions to keep or remove dissonant monuments. The thesis uses a comparative approach, exploring these issues in Russia and South Africa. The dissertation commences with a brief history of both countries from the late 1800s, covering heritage legislation and the significance of their global location. The research then turns to a discussion of dark and dissonant heritage sites under the respective regimes. The thesis further considers the central role of public perception of dark and dissonant heritage sites discussing representative monuments and sites from both countries for historical context. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the motives associated with, and steps necessary for, using dark tourism as a management tool for endangered extreme dissonant monuments and recommendations for the challenges dissonant and dark heritage sites face. Show less

When the global protests of Black Lives Matter commenced, it showed that the future of what this dissertation terms ‘extreme dissonant heritage’ sites is uncertain and are thus often questionable items on tour itineraries. In comparison, dark heritage sites are shown as more stable long-term sites for tour itineraries. Show more

The South African government introduced different policy initiatives to develop tourism in, the country and these tourism policies serve as guidelines for the development of the tourism sector. Municipalities are at the lowest level of Government, and it is where the actual implementation of tourism policies should be taking place. District municipalities and communities globally often face poorly planned development projects resulting from inefficient and ineffective policy and planning implementation. One of the reasons for this is that there is, at times, a lack of participation by key stakeholders. As a result, the study aims was to examine stakeholders' involvement in the development and implementation of tourism-related policies in the O.R Tambo District Municipality (ORTDM). This study adopted a qualitative approach. The research population in this study included the individuals from the district municipality, regional and local tourism organisations, also known as tourism forums, tourism development agencies and the rural planning and economic development departments. Purposive sampling methods complemented by the snowball sampling method were two types of non-probability sampling techniques that were used in this study to identify the research sample from the research population. Consequently, fourteen (14) semi-structured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders. A thematic analysis technique was used to analyse the data. Since this study focussed on stakeholders' involvement in the development and implementation of tourism policies at the selected district municipality (ORTDM). The research findings reveal that there are challenges related to lack of stakeholder involvement, lack of political support, poor implementation, as well as underdeveloped infrastructure. Show less

The South African government introduced different policy initiatives to develop tourism in, the country and these tourism policies serve as guidelines for the development of the tourism sector. Municipalities are at the lowest level of Government, and it is where the actual implementation of tourism policies should be taking Show more

This article examines the impact of new technologies on the field of tourist guiding. It has been found throughout the preliminary research that a large gap in this field exists in academic literature. It is therefore important to study the role of the tourist guide in this era of emerging technologies, both in and outside the museum spectrum, to better understand the future place that tourist guiding will have in the tourism industry. Different types of new technologies are examined in relation to the field of tourist guiding, and the various benefits and limitations of these technologies are also discussed. It can be argued that only when embracing the positive aspects of both new technologies and tourist guiding can one offer tourists the best experience in the digital age. This realisation can greatly impact the way in which tourism managers design tourist experiences and tourist guides interact with both technology and tourists. Show less

This article examines the impact of new technologies on the field of tourist guiding. It has been found throughout the preliminary research that a large gap in this field exists in academic literature. It is therefore important to study the role of the tourist guide in this era of emerging technologies, both in and outside Show more

Despite the rich geological heritage encompassed within the Kruger National Park (KNP), the unemployment rate and poverty levels remain high for local communities abutting the northern part of the park. This study focused on the northern part of the KNP because no study has been conducted to identify and locate geoheritage sites and due to high unemployment rates and poverty levels in that area compared to the southern part of the park. The primary purpose of this research was to investigate and evaluate the potential for geotourism to contribute towards social sustainability and more effective local community development. Geotourism is an emerging research field and South Africa holds some fascinating geological heritage; however, geotourism has been under researched. Therefore, it was important to examine the potential for geotourism to effectively contribute towards local development. Considering that the national government of South Africa through the National Development Plan (NDP) and National Tourism Sector Strategy (NTSS) recognises tourism as one of the growth pillars for poverty alleviation and job creation, geotourism can contribute towards this as one of the potential solutions. Social sustainability and stakeholder framework theories linked to the concept of sustainable development allowed examination of geotourism and its potential contribution to local sustainable development in the context of this study. This study used a four phased mixed research methodology (qualitative and quantitative) to investigate the potential for geotourism development as a secondary market to supplement the current tourism market (wildlife viewing) and to examine the geotourism potentiality to assist in addressing unemployment and poverty. The first phase was a database inventory development, field ranking, evaluation and prioritisation of geoheritage sites using six indicators (geotourism value, cultural value, ecological sensitivity, accessibility, development requirements, and currently available academic literature) of 15 potential geoheritage sites. The collected field data was converted into Microsoft word and excel documents for analysis. Furthermore, excel data with geographic information and values of the six indicators of 15 geoheritage sites was imported into GIS software in order to produce evaluation and prioritisation maps. The second phase entailed semi-structured interviews (qualitative) with 16 key participants which included local community leaders (2), local residents (2), SANParks officials (4), National Department of Tourism government officials (3), local high school tourism teachers (2), Limpopo conservation agency (1) and tourism operators (2). Content analysis was used to analyse the transcripts of semi-structured interviews in order to identify the emerging themes and sub-themes to understand the perceptions of all participants towards geotourism and local social sustainability. The third phase of the research was an online survey (quantitative) of 105 valid respondents and the collected data was statistically analysed in order to understand the perceptions of respondents towards geotourism and local social sustainability. Thereafter, the findings from the first three phases of the study were analysed and interpreted together so as to draw conclusions based on divergence and convergence of findings (fourth phase). In this context, qualitative analysis and statistical analysis of results helped to draw conclusions and recommendations of the research. In conclusion, it was evident from the findings that the northern part of KNP is enriched with precious potential geoheritage sites that can be utilised for geotourism development towards achieving social sustainability, especially of local communities abutting the northern part of the park. However, geotourism has not been developed and introduced as a new tourism market segment at the KNP. The theoretical supplement from this study is that geotourism can contribute towards achieving social sustainability, especially of local communities. Fundamentally, this study shows that previous social sustainability literature lacks focus and has been limited on integrating local culture into social sustainability frameworks. As such, this case study suggests that stakeholder theory and geotourism can be used as tools in reintegrating local culture, understanding social sustainability and towards social sustainability. This study reinforces the theory of social sustainability, stakeholder and geotourism by revealing that local communities abutting the northern part of the KNP and other stakeholders could potentially benefit through socio-economic benefits (income/ employment, community well-being, cultural and shareholding benefits, tour operating, tour guiding, economic growth, supply of goods and services, accommodation and retail businesses), educational benefits (upskilling of tour guides, training of local communities and creating awareness among different stakeholders), and environmental benefits emanating from geotourism development at the KNP. It is therefore recommended that SANParks and/or government immediately introduce geotourism as a new tourism market at the northern part of the KNP. It is recommended that SANParks and/or government should ensure that local communities in the northern part of the KNP are effectively consulted and involved in the planning and decision-making process regarding development and introduction of new tourism products such as geotourism. Furthermore, SANParks and/or government should ensure that there is collaborative stakeholder engagement among all role players, local communities and tourists have access to the geoheritage sites inside the park and local communities benefit from geotourism. The findings of this study intend to assist SANParks, local community leaders, the private sector (including existing tour operators) and government departments in achieving a national database of geoheritage sites to ultimately be associated with sustainable geotourism activity led by local communities. Show less

Despite the rich geological heritage encompassed within the Kruger National Park (KNP), the unemployment rate and poverty levels remain high for local communities abutting the northern part of the park. This study focused on the northern part of the KNP because no study has been conducted to identify and locate geoheritage Show more

The aim of this paper is to examine how new technologies shape the experience of the tourist. This is to further the understanding of tourism’s place in a technologically-driven age. The methodology of the study includes an analysis, comparison and evaluation of elements and factors involved in contributing to a quality tourist experience. The experience of the tourist is a personal and individualistic occurrence and can be improved with the help of both new technologies and the tourist guide. The finding that is made is that both the personal touch of the tourist guide as well as the interactive features of technology have a place in the provision of quality tourism experiences. This in turn implies that both tourist guides and new technologies should be included in the tourism experience. Only then can a quality tourism experience be provided for the 21st century tourist. There are many papers examining the experience of the tourist. However, few have looked at the implications of the development of new technologies on the experience of the tourist. This article suggests a scale on which the tourist experience can be based on, in relation to both tourist guides and new technologies. Show less

The aim of this paper is to examine how new technologies shape the experience of the tourist. This is to further the understanding of tourism’s place in a technologically-driven age. The methodology of the study includes an analysis, comparison and evaluation of elements and factors involved in contributing to a quality Show more