Community views on the role of tourism in local development: A South African study

Abstract

Tourism has received much attention recently as a viable avenue to boost local economies and stimulate growth and development in sub-Saharan Africa with tourism strategies being adopted by many local authorities in South Africa as a major part of their local economic development (LED) initiatives. While much focus has been on approaches and strategies to use tourism for LED, minimal attention has been paid to the actual views and opinions of community members with regard to these approaches and strategies. This study, hence, evaluates communities’ views on the role of tourism in local economic development. The study was conducted in Mnquma local municipality, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, adopted a quantitative research methodology, and used questionnaires as data collection instrument. Key results indicate that community members feel that the tourism industry is not yet at a stage where it is able to contribute to poverty alleviation and create employment opportunities in the local municipality.