Producing and imaging ‘place’ and ‘people’: the political economy of South African international tourist representation

ABSTRACT

Tourism is increasingly recognised and studied for its economic, political and social importance. This article examines the political economy of tourist imaging in South Africa, and its effect on tourism impact in the country. It investigates the nature of the international tourism production system that South Africa is part of, and the role of producers, particularly tour operators and marketers, in the creation and dissemination of distinct images. It is shown that the image that is predominantly sold by such producers in international markets—focused on the natural, rather than the cultural components of the South African tourist product—is a continuation of the image established during the apartheid era. This has a developmental impact, moreover, as tourist imaging affects tourist flows. This negates the attempts of the South African government to develop and promote a more encompassing image, one that is dually aimed at meeting some of the domestic, political and economic objectives of the government, and shore up some of the government's foreign policy endeavours. Overall, analysing the political economy of a sector such as tourism can provide useful insights into some of the strategies used by developing countries to participate in global systems of production and consumption, and factors that influence their success.

KEYWORDS:

• Tourism and development
• imaging
• representation
• tourism production system
• competitiveness
• South Africa

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am grateful to two anonymous referees for their insightful comments on an earlier draft of this article.

Notes

1 Urry derives his notion of the tourist gaze from Foucault's concept of ‘the gaze’, broadly, the way in which people view upon reality, something which in turn is created by dominant forces of power in society.

2 In order of ranking these are the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, Table Mountain, Cape Point, the Wine Route, the Garden Route, Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden, ostrich farms mainly found in the Little Karoo district, and Robben Island (Satour, 2000). Sights in Pretoria, the administrative capital of South Africa, and the Kruger National Park are ranked ninth and tenth, respectively, as main attractions by respondents.

3 This was part of a larger study that analysed the economic and developmental impact of tourism in the Western Cape. This study assessed tourism's geographical impact and the political economy of German and British tourism production and consumption in the province. Aside from statistical analyses, a total of 125 interviews were conducted with tourists, tour operators, airlines, accommodation operators, policy makers and regulatory bodies. In total 33 tour operators-18 in Germany and 15 in the United Kingdom-were interviewed, while 21 brochures were analysed.

4 This view of Africa was most vividly portrayed in a recent editorial of The Economist, where the continent was decried as ‘the hopeless continent’ (The Economist, 13 May 2000).