Tourism enterprises and climate change : some research imperatives

Abstract: The nexus of tourism and climate change is one that has encountered increasing academic interest and exploration by range of disciplines, in particular with prominent contributions made by geographers. Southern Africa is a region that is particularly vulnerable to the long-term impacts of climate change. It is against this background that this paper examines key debates from the growing international literature on climate change in order to identify research imperatives including for African scholars. Arguably, in analysing the potential outcomes and impacts of climate change on the tourism industry worldwide, and specifically the manner in which a number of tourism dependent businesses and by proxy tourism dependent communities and livelihoods may be increasingly vulnerable to climate change related stresses, adaptive actions which aim to reduce or counter such vulnerability become essential. Overall, as argued in this analysis, expanding the research agenda relating to tourism enterprises and climate change and most especially around the need for ‘adaptive pathways’ is of critical importance for tourism scholarship

The timeshare industry of Africa: a study in tourism geography

Within the broad spectrum of tourism accommodation the timeshare industry is a distinctive segment which has attracted only limited research work. This paper represents a contribution to tourism geography as it investigates the location of timeshare resorts in Africa and comparative position of African destinations in the global timeshare economy. The analysis shows the timeshare resort industry in South Africa is the most significant on the continent and is distinctive in its reliance upon domestic rather than international tourists. In terms of the distribution of resorts the key locational consideration in Africa parallels that found in other parts of the world, namely the positioning of resorts in areas of high natural amenity. In the African context this has meant clustering resorts in coastal beach areas and attractive mountain locations, as well as in the areas which afford opportunities for timeshare consumers to experience the African bush. Finally, of note in South Africa is the growth of large timeshare property developments at casino resorts, a development which parallels the experience of certain timeshare developments in the USA

The making of the South African timeshare industry: spatial structure and development challenges

Research on the accommodation sector attracts only a small fraction of contemporary tourism scholarship relating to sub-Saharan Africa. This paper contributes to this expanding literature on segmentation and the accommodation sector in South Africa. Specifically, it examines the establishment and making of the timeshare industry as a distinctive form of accommodation within the national tourism economy. The timeshare industry in South Africa is the largest and most mature in sub-Saharan Africa and among the most important in the developing world. The analysis uses a longitudinal perspective in order to interpret the emerging spatial organisation and evolving structural issues that impacted upon the development of the timeshare industry in its formative years from 1978 to 2002. The study addresses a knowledge gap around the minimal pursuit of historical research within the existing international literature about timeshare

Urban tourism and climate change: Risk perceptions of business tourism stakeholders in Johannesburg, South Africa

Abstract: The nexus of climate change and cities is acknowledged as of growing importance for inter-disciplinary research. In this article the focus is upon the perceptions of climate change and responses by tourism stakeholders in Johannesburg, South Africa’s leading city and major tourism destination. Using semi-structured qualitative interviews with 30 tourism stakeholders an analysis is undertaken of the risk perceptions of climate change. Overall the results suggest a major disconnect between the climate change threats as openly recognised by Johannesburg city authorities and of the risk perceptions as revealed by local tourism stakeholders. The predominant view articulated by tourism industry stakeholders is that climate change responses and associated sustainability initiatives are something of a ‘nice to have’ rather than a necessity given current the current state of awareness and of climate change risk perceptions by businesses

Tourism and Climate Change: Stakeholder Perceptions of At Risk Tourism Segments in South Africa

The aim is to investigate the perspectives of key South African tourism industry stakeholders surrounding the issue of climate change. Previous research has shown that while the tourism industry in many countries is aware of the significance and potential ramifications of climate change, it is not considered a pressing issue and not the least since the impact of the 2008 global economic crisis. In Africa, with the tourism sector potentially facing major threats from climate change, the need for further research is urgent especially with respect to stakeholder perceptions. The study analyzes the development of national policy towards climate change and tourism and the perceptions of 31 key stakeholders on the segments of the national tourism economy most at risk from climate change. The results show at national government level South Africa is seeking to enact tourism and climate based policies. This said, the degree to which such policies might be implementable must be questioned not only in relation to capacity issues at the scale of local government but by the depth of revealed commitment of stakeholders in terms of making meaningful adjustments to the challenges of climate change because of their perceptions of risk. In particular, the interviewees highlighted their awareness that climate change is responsible for threats to biodiversity as well as assets for coastal and marine tourism. Overall the stakeholders perceived differences in the impacts of climate change for different segments of the tourism economy. Of concern was that stakeholders gainsay the potential impacts of climate change for certain segments which international evidence suggests will most definitely be at risk.&nbsp

Coastal tourism and climate change : risk perceptions of tourism stakeholders in South Africa’s garden route

Abstract: Coastal tourism destinations are highly vulnerable to the ramifications of climate change. Research conducted in South Africa has identified the potential losses associated with climate change on beach or coastal environments as one of the largest concerns for the tourism industry. In addressing the challenge of climate change a critical research issue is advancing our understanding of the risk perceptions of tourism stakeholders. The aim is to investigate risk perceptions of business stakeholders towards climate change impacts in one of South Africa’s leading coastal destinations, the Garden Route District Municipality in Western Cape province. The results are analysed from 30 qualitative interviews conducted with tourism business owners and managers. Four core themes were scrutinised, namely awareness of climate change, perceptions of the potential climate change risks, the prioritisation of climate change as compared to other business risks, and greening and adaptive measures pursued by businesses. Overall, climate change is not considered as a major issue for tourism businesses in the Garden Route especially as compared to the immediate or pressing challenges relating to marketing, infrastructural deficits, government regulations and local human resource development for tourism. This conclusion raises significant concerns for the resilience of coastal tourism destinations and local economic development futures in South Africa