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Faculty of Management Sciences

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Tourism--South Africa

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    A comparative analysis of the performance of traditional advertising media and online media for the promotion of tourism in KwaZulu-Natal
    (2018-04-23) Madondo, Elvis; Moodley, Padhma
    This is a comparative study of the performance of online media and traditional advertising media for the promotion of tourism in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Durban Tourism (2013: 1) states that although KZN has done well to attract and hold major events in the Durban City, the number of visitors has declined since the last five years. There is a need for ongoing efforts to promote the tourism industry for it to remain competitive and continue contributing to the welfare of the people. Modern age advertising is divided into two main groups, traditional media and online media advertising. In the past, the tourism industry and other business organisations relied heavily on traditional media to market their products and services (Strategic Direction 2016: 9). However, the advancement of network technologies and the increasing penetration of the Internet have prompted increasing numbers of organisations around the world to use online (Internet) advertising in order to attract more customers in cyberspace, and to enhance their product sales and company profile. Goyal and Sharma (2013: 46) further claim that the advent of online media in tourism business has altogether revolutionised the whole system of performing business and brought about new ways of promoting business. In light of these developments, many marketing practitioners fear that traditional media have entered a death spiral and are no longer competitive in doing meaningful business. They believe that traditional media will succumb to technology innovations that revolutionised the promotion industry (Chao et al. 2012: 12). In this contemporary tourism marketing environment, the performance of traditional advertising media and online media needs to be revealed in order to guide media choice decisions by tourism marketers and authorities. This study employed a descriptive research design which aimed to achieve the objectives of the research through the use of mixed research methods. For this reason, two separate surveys were carried out. Non-probability sampling techniques were employed in recruiting the participants. The design employed two research instruments in the form of a structured questionnaire and structured interviews. Four hundred questionnaires were distributed to tourists at the Durban beachfront, Gateway Mall, Durban Station, and other public places that were convenient to the researcher and the researcher managed to get a 75% response rate. In addition to this, seven interviews were conducted with Durban Tourism and Tourism KwaZulu- Natal authorities, as well as marketing managers of selected Hotels and Travel Agents. The findings revealed that traditional media and online media are more or less equally competitive for the promotion of tourism. Traditional media is still effective for the promotion of tourism in this digital age, most especially in the domestic market. Though tourists used to turn to few sources, they now use various information outlets available at their disposal. Tourism marketers and authorities need to come to terms with traditional media and online media coexistence. There is no need to rely on one media to do it all. Where traditional media lacks, online media must be there to make up the difference and enhance the tourist’s experience. The results led to the creation of the tourism promotion framework which outlines that the tourism sector needs an integrated media choice approach. Further research on the same area covered by this study is required on an ongoing basis in order to keep abreast of the developments in the market. The media environment is unpredictable as completely different media can be developed and tastes and preferences of people change.
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    The relationship between event spend, social cohesion and economic development
    (2017) Gumede, Musa; Msweli, Pumela
    The study addressed four questions using secondary annual time series data: (1) How is event spend related to economic development? (2) How are the physical attributes of the region (natural capital) related to economic development?(3) How is social cohesion related to economic development? (4) How does human capital influence economic development? The study period starts in 1994 and ends in 2016, accordingly 100 data points were pulled from the time series. Error Correction Model and Ordinary Least Squares were used as analytical tools to test the regression model developed for the study. Economic development is the dependent variable and is represented by tourism employment data sourced from Statistics South Africa. The independent variables are event spend represented by expenditure figures for culture, sports and recreation published by Statistics SA; human capital was measured using gross educational ratio for secondary education accessed from the World Bank database; natural capital was measured using the gross domestic product attained from Statistics South Africa; and social cohesion was measured using social expenditure data acquired from the South African Reserve Bank. The theoretical framework that underpins the study is the geography political theory as espoused by different authors including Collier (2007) and Kollosov (2001). On the basis of this theoretical framework the study seeks to look at the effect of event spend, natural capital, human capital and social cohesion on economic development. The findings of the study show that there is no relationship between economic development, event spend and human capital. However a relationship was established between natural capital and social cohesion. The results of the study will inform policymakers in the allocation of budgets towards major events. It will also contribute to the equitable distribution of resources to promote social cohesion in communities.
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    Environmental impacts of ecolabels on the tourism sector of South Africa
    (2017) Arulappan, Lucinda Brown; Sucheran, Reshma
    Over the years the rapid growth of the tourism industry has revealed itself to be a major source of income and social improvement for many. However, with this growth comes the undoubtable carbon footprint it carries. As a result, the growth and expansion of many tourism ecolabels have surfaced in the hopes of alleviating the negative environmental impacts the tourism industry imposes. This study aimed to ascertain the impacts of tourism ecolabels on businesses. It assessed the level of success of the ecolabel within the organisation as well as ascertained the benefits and challenges associated with ecolabel certification. A quantitative research approach was used and the data was collected by means of online questionnaires that were targeted at managers of tourism businesses in South Africa. The study reveals that tourism businesses in South Africa do experience the benefits of being certified with an ecolabel in terms of the natural, socio-cultural and economic environments. However, the high costs associated with being certified, the lack of general public awareness regarding ecolabels and the absence of government support are still prevalent. Consequently, cost reduction, promotion of public awareness as well as government support are the main areas of improvement required by tourism establishments with regard to ecolabels.