THRIVE ISSUE 5 DECEMBER 2024 14 By Dr. Siyabulela Nyikana | Senior Lecturer, There is no doubt that over the last 30 years, there has been tremendous growth in the industry. In fact, tourism has become a buzzword for any socio-economic development agenda at local, regional, provincial, and national levels. The contributions from the industry in terms of employment, revenues, infrastructure, cultural exchange, and environmental management amongst others have been emphasised. Certainly, in several the “State-of-the-Nation” addresses since 1994, tourism has taken center stage for socio-economic development plans across the country. Such attention has expectedly led to the sector being a popular choice of study amongst students and a common development strategy for local economies. However, questions remain: are we doing enough to promote tourism? Do our people know and genuinely appreciate tourism in line with our ambitions for it as stated in the various industry strategies and policy documents? Is the industry doing enough to accommodate graduates? Are we as researchers doing enough to produce impactful research that can change the realities of the industry? Are we doing enough to not only raise awareness but deepen the understanding of what tourism truly means for those in society who do not have the full appreciation of its nuances and complexities? There are bridges we need to build and spaces we ought to narrow if we want tourism to reach its true potential in South Africa. South Africa is blessed with a mixture of tourist attractions, activities, and experiences for tourism. We draw from the natural beauty, iconic landscapes, modern infrastructure and memorable experiences, deep informative experiences of culture and heritage complemented by warm and friendly people. Despite this, we have massive divides between the development of urban versus non-urban areas. We have big gaps between industry and the education sector, between our focus on international versus domestic tourism. We grapple with experiences for the young versus custom experiences for the old. We still have inclusivity challenges, where we have a gap between the abled-bodied versus the people with disabilities. We also struggle to understand the context of formal versus informal sectors of tourism. As an industry, we are faced with a widening “tourism gap.” The potential for tourism is massive, but so are the challenges in trying to bring two ends of an unending, complex continuum together. “I can’t be a tourist, you can see I don’t have money, and I am not taking pictures of everything. I am merely going to visit my family in Port Elizabeth [Gqeberha].” This was a response from a survey participant for my research on domestic tourism published years ago. This experience led to many realisations, primarily around how tourism should be versus how it is perceived and understood on the ground. After 30 Years of Democracy How do we Narrow The “TourismGap”? “As an educator, I must also ask: are we doing enough to train our students to be industry-ready? ” ~ Nyikana Click Here to read more about the TourismWhite Paper
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