The growth and promotion of regional tourism in the developing world: the South African experience

Abstract

Although regional tourism is an important phenomenon in the developing world, it has largely been overlooked by international tourism scholars. The promotion of regional tourism can make a positive contribution to tourism development. This article stresses the importance of regional tourists to the expanding tourism economy of South Africa. It highlights the changing policy environment and suggests that critical policy interventions should be undertaken at both national and local levels of government in order to maximise the developmental impacts of promoting regional tourism.

¹Respectively, Professor of Human Geography and PhD Student, School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the National Research Foundation, Pretoria Gun Award 2054064, and thank Wendy Job for preparing the diagrams for this paper.

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the National Research Foundation, Pretoria Gun Award 2054064, and thank Wendy Job for preparing the diagrams for this paper.

Notes

¹Respectively, Professor of Human Geography and PhD Student, School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the National Research Foundation, Pretoria Gun Award 2054064, and thank Wendy Job for preparing the diagrams for this paper.