Tourism constraints of UMlazi Township residents
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Date
1998
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Abstract
The tourism industry is today recognised as being an activity of global significance. It is therefore not surprising that tourism is receiving attention from governments, the private sector and academics. Here, in South Africa too, tourism is receiving this attention yet there are communities in this country which still do not enjoy the opportunities offered by tourism. It is for this reason that a study of tourism constraints of Umlazi township residents is undertaken.
This study aims at determining the constraints that are a hindrance to the Umlazi township residents' participation in tourism. The main concern of the study is why some people do not travel to visit other places in their own country.
It emerged from this study that lack of finance is the main reason why the Umlazi township residents do not travel. Other reasons that were revealed in the study were lack of knowledge, fear of crime and fear of accidents.
In view of these findings the study makes some recommendations. These recommendations are related to the problems of lack of finance, lack of knowledge, fear of crime and fear of accidents.
To overcome the problem of finance it is recommended that communities form groups and organise saving schemes to help them towards saving for tourism. These groups can also organise group tours at reasonable cost. The private sector should organise incentive tours for their employees. There should be joint action among various provincial governments and travel organizations in the different provinces in order to promote domestic travel by low income groups. The government should also establish special programmes for the unemployed youth in order to allow them opportunities to travel.
To deal with lack of knowledge, provision of information must be given priority in a country like South Africa, where a majority of its people have been left out of tourism in the past.
In order to alleviate crime, people should not rely on law enforcement alone. Communities must be involved in dealing with crime. The government must provide counselling services for the victims of crime so that the fear of crime can be addressed.
To encourage drivers and pedestrians to be careful on the roads, campaigns like arrive alive, siyabakhumbiila, drive alive, should be encouraged. This can contribute towards limiting the number of road accidents in this country. This should also be a continuous exercise and not just for certain seasons.
The recommendations in this study are not intended only for the area in which this study was undertaken, but for all those communities that face similar constraints.
Description
A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Master of Arts degree in the Center for Recreation and Tourism at the University of Zululand,1998.
Keywords
Tourism, Tourism--Umlazi--South Africa, Tourism--Theses and dissertations