As South Africa has increasingly utilized tourism as a local economic development strategy, many parts of the country are heavily reliant on this sector, particularly in terms of employment. This is particularly the case for the Mpumalanga Province, in which major tourism assets are located including Kruger National Park and the Panorama Route. These areas have, in years leading up to the pandemic, been primarily dependent on international tourism markets. Undoubtedly, the magnitude of the pandemic will reshape existing patterns of tourism demand and supply which need to be understood and researched for designing appropriate policy interventions. One of the primary transformations which has been experienced thus far is the increasingly reliance of the sector on the domestic tourism market. Though spurred on by the pandemic, long-term transformations in mobility caused by other crises such as climate change are also likely to drive a need for increased engagement with the domestic tourism market. However, in parts of the province, serious issues have persisted which emerged long before the pandemic. This study, therefore, examines the challenges of developing domestic tourism in Mpumalanga, with a focus on the Thaba Chweu Municipality, home to the famed Panorama Route. It demonstrates that although the pandemic clearly presented challenges for tourism, many issues of poor service delivery and incompetency within the local municipal government has created significant barriers in meeting the increased demand for rural tourism amongst the domestic tourism market. In order for tourism growth to continue in the region, government needs to assist in facilitating tourism development, rather than impeding it.
Keywords: rural tourism|south africa|domestic tourism|local government|nature-based tourism
A103171JG