Ninth International Conference on Tourism & Leisure Studies

Abstract

Collaborative governance is increasingly playing a vital role in addressing the multi-dimensional challenges of the contemporary era. Tourism governance explores the constituents of tourism destinations. Recent tourism governance research has explored the role of multiple actors in governing destinations but has not comprehensively investigated the role that small tourism enterprises as an important stakeholders at rural tourism destinations. Small tourism enterprises in tourism destinations in rural areas feel that they are not given due consideration for their voices to be heard amongst the stakeholders in collaborative governance in tourism. The aim of this research paper is to investigate the views of small tourism enterprises on their role as a stakeholder in tourism collaborative governance. The study adopted a case study design within a qualitative approach and sample of the study was selected based on participants’ involvement in governance of tourism in the Nqileni village, Eastern Cape province, South Africa. The study adopted purposive sampling, which forms part of non-probability sampling. The results of the study clearly indicate that small tourism enterprises feel that they are being isolated and left out of important decisions that are taken by the stakeholders in tourism collaborative governance in Nqileni village even though they feel that they play a crucial role in rendering services to tourists in the area. The results of the study indicate that there is a need to review and re-evaluate the governance structure in the area and how it is managed to ensure that the voices of all stakeholders are heard.