Abstract
International tourism creates for any nation a potential problem: A loss of culture in order to attract and maintain steady foreign travel interests. One finds that foreign tourists get a vastly different experience of a country than domestic travelers, resulting in a disproportionate and unequal sense of the richness of South Africa’s cultural heritage. An April 2023 interview on leading radio station Kaya FM hosting Sho’t Left, a domestic tourism branch of the South African Tourism Board, revealed renewed efforts to encourage domestic tourism. Additionally, in November of 2023, the Tourism Business Council of South Africa partnered with South African-born and world-renowned comedian Trevor Noah for a global tourism campaign encouraging foreigners to visit South Africa. These two campaigns reveal a growing and ever present relevance regarding domestic and international tourism and efforts to grow and develop both. Domestic travelers, while encouraged to travel by the South African Tourism Board, are disproportionately affected by national crises and other related factors compared to their international counterparts. Additionally, trends in scholarship show a disproportionate study of foreign travelers compared to those that are domestic, suggesting a decreased sense of significance of domestic tourism despite statistical data that suggests otherwise. This paper explores the impact of domestic and international tourism on the South African economy with specific focus on major global events, tourism’s impact on economic and cultural growth, and the effectiveness of national marketing on domestic and international tourism.
Presenters
Mukundi RamaiteStudent, Business Administration, University of Southern California, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Critical Issues in Tourism and Leisure Studies
KEYWORDS
Domestic Tourism, Cultural Tourism, International Tourism, South Africa, Economics, Marketing
