The Geographical Journal, Vol. 168, No. 3, September 2002, pp.

235–247

Tourism as a local development strategy in

South Africa
TONY BINNS* and ETIENNE NEL†
*School of African and Asian Studies, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9SJ
E-mail: j.a.binns@sussex.ac.uk
†Department of Geography, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa
E-mail: E.Nel@ru.ac.za
This paper was accepted for publication in July 2002

The promotion of tourism has been identified as a key strategy that can lead to
economic upliftment, community development and poverty relief in the developing
world. In the last few years, tourism has also emerged as a significant development
option in post-apartheid South Africa. In the context of some current debates on tourism
in poor countries, the paper examines how economic, social and environmental
resources are being utilized to promote tourism as a local economic development
strategy in South Africa, and more specifically it focuses on current local government
endeavours in this regard and two communities that have suffered the loss of their
economic resource base. Tourism-based development initiatives, one in KwaZulu-Natal
and one in the Western Cape, are evaluated in the context of generating economic
growth, alleviating poverty and addressing the apartheid legacy of discrimination and
inequality. The significance of the dynamics of development processes involved in these
initiatives has much wider relevance for local economic development, both within South
Africa and elsewhere.

KEY WORDS: South Africa, local economic development, economic restructuring,

environment, tourism

Introduction one of the most critical forces shaping the world’s

economy (Williams 1998). The identification and

T
he economic geography of the post-industrial
world has been characterized by fundamental
processes of restructuring, an increased
mobility of capital, the rise and decline of localities
and regions and the pursuit of new economic
growth activities, particularly in the service sector.
In the developing world, such economic change
frequently overlays more localized processes of
marginalization and extreme poverty. In recent
years, in a parallel and often related process,
service-based economic sectors have received sig-
nificant impetus from altered consumer prefer-
ences and choices, wealth and locational mobility
(Hudson 1995). Tapping into economic shifts such
as these can have significant potential for areas that
are seeking to reorientate their local economies as
a result of economic change or marginalization.
One sector that has performed particularly well in
this context is tourism, which has clearly become
0016-7398/02/0003-0235/$00.20/0
promotion of localities as a result of their location,
natural attractions and tourist-orientated facilities,
has enabled once marginalized areas, such as
Mediterranean and Caribbean islands, to enjoy
new-found economic prosperity. The increasing
importance of tourism generally, and more specifi-
cally in the developing world, is a noteworthy
theme in development literature, and many
countries have now come to regard it as a ‘passport
to development’ (Williams 1998; Dann 2002, 236).
Within this context, the advocacy of tourism as a
so-called ‘pro-poor’ strategy is an emerging theme
in development literature (Ashley and Roe 2002),
as are parallel debates concerning the potential of
tourism development in promoting community
development and sustainability in a manner that
does not lead to drastic environmental and social
change (Wahab and Pigram 1997; Elliott et al. 2001;
 2002 The Royal Geographical Society
236 Tourism as a local development strategy in South Africa
Sharpley 2002). Numerous governments and devel-
opment agencies around the world find tourism
promotion a relatively inexpensive strategy that can
draw in foreign exchange through ‘exhibiting’ local
culture and environments. In situations marked by
economic collapse, and in the absence of signifi-
cant economic alternatives, this is probably an
understandable situation. However, as Sharpley
(2002) questions, tourism can seldom be regarded
as a ‘development panacea’. As evidence clearly
shows, tourism development often comes at a price
and economic gains must be balanced against
social and environmental costs. Questions must be
asked concerning the costs and impacts of tourism,
and whether it truly can be an empowering
development strategy for the host community,
from which it can derive sustainable long-term
benefits (Mitchella and Reidb 2001).
This paper considers how economic change and
crisis, combined with a legacy of racially based
discrimination and poverty, are serving as a basis to
motivate the identification and pursuit of new
development options in the tourism sector, in
post-apartheid South Africa. That country has
experienced mixed economic fortunes since politi-
cal transformation in the early 1990s. Whilst slow
economic growth has been experienced, labour-
intensive sectors such as mining and resource-
based manufacturing industries shed nearly
500 000 jobs in the second half of the 1990s
(Lester et al. 2000). In direct response to the
economic plight of the poorest areas, the South
African government now actively encourages the
pursuit of local economic development as part of its
recently launched ‘developmental local govern-
ment’ strategy (RSA 1998), within which Local
Economic Development is currently being reformu-
lated as a ‘pro-poor’ strategy (RSA 2000). Related
to this approach, the promotion of tourism is now
widely recognized in the country as a key growth
alternative (Rogerson 2000). South Africa’s rich
natural and cultural heritage, and the fact that it is
clearly one of the more appealing and rapidly
growing tourist destinations in the world, make this
sector an area to which government, entrepreneurs
and communities are currently looking very seri-
ously. Whilst well-known tourist destinations, such
as Kruger Park and Cape Town, are clearly benefit-
ing from South Africa’s attractiveness (a scenario
that has in fact been enhanced since 11 September
2001, because of the country’s perceived ‘safe
destination’ status), the government is anxious to
ensure that the benefits are felt in all parts of the
country. The 1996 Tourism White Paper (RSA
1996a) identifies the need to promote community
participation in tourism, whilst many local authori-
ties have embarked upon what often amounts to
pro-poor tourism development strategies, such as
the promotion of crafts, township visits and cultural
tourism (townships are the poor, black residential
areas created under apartheid).
Tourism-led development is clearly an emerging
theme in the literature on South African Local
Economic Development (LED) (Rogerson 1997
2001), with tourism promotion geared towards
community development being perceived as a
viable growth option (Goudie et al. 1999; Kirsten
and Rogerson 2002; Mahony and van Zyl 2002).
However, despite the prominence accorded to
tourism in South Africa’s broad development vision
and in many local-level strategies, as Rogerson
notes, in studies of LED, ‘. . . tourism-led LED is
markedly under-represented and little discussed’
(Rogerson 2002, 1). This paper seeks to address
this lacuna and frames tourism within the context of
its potential role as a major development strategy.
After first examining debates regarding tourism as a
development option, and the development context
in which LED and tourism promotion are emerging
in South Africa, the emphasis in the paper then
shifts to a study of tourism-focused LED and then
on how two small towns in South Africa, Still Bay
(Western Cape) and Utrecht (KwaZulu-Natal), are
seeking to drive an economic renaissance through
the use of their natural landscape as a tourism asset.
The development context
Local economic development
In many areas of the world, the reality of economic
crises has provoked a search for locally driven and
innovative growth alternatives, which are frequently
referred to in the literature as ‘local economic
development’ (LED) (Stöhr 1990; Zaaijer and Sara
1993; Demaziere and Wilson 1996). Key features
of LED are that it seeks to encourage economic
growth and to diversify the local economic base
into sectors that are usually quite different from
those in which recent hardship has been experi-
enced – a pertinent consideration in communities
undergoing economic change. In South Africa, the
current devolution of authority and development
leadership to local governments, as reflected in the
country’s recently stated commitment to ‘develop-
mental local government’, has obliged local govern-
ments to seek innovative growth options to address
the development backlog and plug the employ-
ment gap that more traditional economic sectors
seem unable to do (RSA 1998). Within this context,
LED, in utilizing local resources and skills, is recog-
nized by government as a key vehicle for bringing
about economic change and alleviating poverty
(RSA 1998; Binns and Nel 1999 2000; Nel 1999;
Rogerson 1999b; Nel and Binns 2001).
 Tourism as a local development strategy in South Africa
In the South African context, local action and
LED, specifically, have been encouraged by a range
of government policy documents and acts of par-
liament, including the Reconstruction and Develop-
ment Programme (RDP), launched before the
first democratic elections in 1994 (ANC 1994;
Rogerson 1997). The RDP prioritizes community-
based development as the way through which the
most marginalized sections of the community can
be empowered and drawn into employment. The
Local Government White Paper (RSA 1998) and the
National Constitution (RSA 1996b) have subse-
quently charged local governments with promoting
economic and social well-being and introducing
development and job-creation endeavours in the
areas under their jurisdiction. The result has been
the emergence of a range of recently initiated
projects, with some of the most common ventures
being:
+ public works programmes;
+ local procurement and small-business promotion
strategies;
+ support for both formal and informal business;
and
+ efforts to encourage tourism-based development
(Nel 2001; Rogerson 2001).
Tourism-based development: internationally and in
South Africa
Tourism-driven development in areas seeking to
restructure their economies is an important theme
in academic literature. In the developed world, for
example, the redevelopment of waterfont areas in
places such as Liverpool, Baltimore or Sydney for
leisure and business tourism, or the use of former
mining areas for heritage tourism, as in Wales and
Yorkshire (Edwards and Coit 1996; Watt and
McGuirk 1997), are identified trends. Critical to the
success of such undertakings is the degree to which
a locality can ‘market’ itself to potential investors
and tourists through ‘place marketing’, in order to
achieve a tourism-based economic growth (Hall
and Hubbard 1996). Identifying and marketing new
conceptualizations of space and place is key in this
regard. Activities such as the hosting of festivals and
the creation of flagship foci, such as heritage sites,
convention centres and capitalizing on locally avail-
able natural resources, are all hallmarks of this
approach (Boyle 1997).
The use of tourism-based development is also an
important theme in the developing world, following
from trends in more developed countries. As
Rogerson has shown,
237
A discernable trend across many developed countries is
for LED initiatives to be anchored upon promoting locali-
ties as centres of consumption rather than of production,
applying a tourism-led approach to LED.
(Rogerson 2001, 2)
However, tourism development often does come
at a cost to the physical environment in terms of
destruction of resources, pollution and loss of cul-
tural identity. For example, in Kenya’s Maasai Mara
National Park and the Ngorongoro Conservation
Area in Tanzania, the heavy demand for firewood
for use in lodges and camps for cooking and
heating has severely depleted the small riverine
forests (Kamuaro 1996). In Europe, the Balearic
islands have responded to tourism pressures by
imposing an eco-tax of 1 Euro per visitor per day, to
help rectify the serious environmental damage
caused by the tourist boom of the last three dec-
ades, and to protect the fragile areas that are left.
Meanwhile, British tour operators and the British
government have recently come together with
British NGOs to develop a ‘Sustainable Tourism
Initiative’ for the entire industry (Tourism Concern
2002). It is important, therefore, that the pursuit
of tourism-based development is undertaken
sensitively in order to ensure sustainability and to
minimize negative impacts (Dann 2002).
Literature on the developmental impacts of tour-
ism, mainly in the developing world, but to a certain
degree also in the developed world, has in recent
years sought to identify whether tourism can actu-
ally be regarded as, and encouraged to become,
a ‘pro-poor’ development strategy. Poverty
alleviation/elimination is the core focus of ‘pro-poor
tourism’ (PPT). But there is often some confusion
as to how PPT relates to other tourism concepts
such as ‘ecotourism’, ‘sustainable tourism’ and
‘community-based tourism’. In an attempt to clarify
the situation, the Pro-Poor Tourism Project explains,
PPT also overlaps with both ecotourism and community-
based tourism, but it is not synonymous with either.
Ecotourism initiatives may provide benefits to people, but
they are mainly concerned with the environment.
Community-based tourism initiatives aim to increase local
people’s involvement in tourism. This is a useful compo-
nent of PPT. But PPT involves more than a community
focus – it requires mechanisms to unlock opportunities
for the poor at all levels and scales of operation.
(Pro-Poor Tourism 2002, 1)
As Ashley and Roe argue, ‘. . . despite commercial
constraints, much can be done to enhance the
contribution of tourism to poverty reduction, and a
238 Tourism as a local development strategy in South Africa
pro-poor tourism perspective assists in this endeav-
our’ (2002, 61). In support of this approach,
Sharpley argues that, ‘. . . tourism has long been
considered an effective catalyst of rural socio-
economic development and regeneration’
(Sharpley 2002, 112). Sharpley does, however,
question whether tourism can in fact be regarded
as a developmental panacea. Even though positive
evidence of the impact of tourism-based develop-
ment on communities can be found in localities
such as Taquile island (Mitchella and Reidb 2001),
the reality is that in many countries, control often
remains vested in the hands of outsiders, such that
local communities are often only incorporated at a
subservient level. This can easily lead to negative
effects, such as resource depletion and the loss, or
commodification, of culture. As Tourism Concern
Director, Patricia Barnett comments on Belize,
. . . It now has a highly competitive tourism industry, more
interested in marketing a product than ensuring that it is
environmentally sound, or that the people are benefiting
from it. Local people are marginalized as outsiders buy up
the land. Locals are angry that they can no longer access
their own forests, which have been their natural home for
generations and their islands are sold out to American
ecotourism developers.
(Tourism Concern 2002, 2)
As Weaver has shown, also in Belize, although
ecotourism has spawned development initiatives in
local communities,
. . . the overall number of local residents affected is prob-
ably quite low, due to the limited number of parks that
accept significant visitor numbers and the tendency of
groups to visit on a day-only basis.
(Weaver 1998, 91)
Although South Africa is regarded as a medium
income country, it is characterized by tremendous
social inequality and high levels of poverty, with
11.5% of the population living below US$1 per day
in 1993. In 1998, the tourism industry contributed
8.2% of South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product and
7% of total employment. Whilst this represents an
increase from a GDP contribution of only 2% in
1994, it is still lower than the world average of over
10% (Roe and Urquhart 2001, 3). Tourism’s poten-
tial for job creation is considerable and is particu-
larly important in the light of significant job losses in
South Africa in recent years. As Roe and Urquhart
comment,
Given that attacking poverty and redressing past in-
equities of the apartheid system are overriding national
priorities, promoting a kind of tourism that meets these
goals is critical for the hosts of the 2002 World Earth
Summit in Johannesburg.
(Roe and Urquhart 2001, 3)
Rogerson has identified tourism as a key LED
strategy in South Africa (Rogerson 1999a 2000). As
he suggests, ‘. . . the importance of tourism as an
anchor for growing local economies is . . . critical in
South Africa’s smaller urban centres’ (Rogerson
2000, 402). A range of recent papers variously
identify and discuss the impact of tourism develop-
ment in South Africa on small enterprise develop-
ment (Kirsten and Rogerson 2002), rural livelihoods
(Mahony and van Zyl 2002), the poor (Ashley and
Roe 2002), black communities (Goudie et al. 1999)
and on regional development (Saayman et al.
2001). Whilst the benefits are clearly slow in com-
ing, government and development agencies are
anxious to spread the benefits of tourism-related
economic growth. In addition to being a potential
LED strategy, tourism development has very con-
siderable potential in the country, given an increase
in the number of international visitors from
4.5 million in 1994 when the ANC came to power,
to a projected 8.5 million in 2002 (Editors Inc.
2001). The national government is seeking to
capitalize on the country’s rich natural and cultural
resources and, as the Tourism White Paper (RSA
1996a) argues, if pursued responsibly tourism has
the potential to positively improve the quality of life
of all South Africans. Key principles embodied in
the White Paper include the encouragement of
community participation and the sustainable
management of resources. Furthermore, the White
Paper places strong emphasis on tourism develop-
ment being driven by the private sector, with
government’s role limited to providing a facilitating
contextual framework for its development.
Tourism-based local economic development in
South Africa
Within South Africa, in addition to longstanding
popular tourist destinations such as Kruger Park, the
Garden Route and Cape Town, a wide range of
other localities are now seeking to drive develop-
ment through tourism promotion, often as an
explicit part of their LED programmes. Such inter-
ventions tend to have a community/pro-poor focus.
An emerging trend is that local authorities, who are
now regarded by national government as the
‘champions’ and deliverers of LED, are under-
taking a ‘set of programmes designed to make
their areas more exciting or attractive places for
purposes of consumption, entertainment or
 Tourism as a local development strategy in South Africa
recreation’ (Rogerson 2000, 402). Common foci of
these new initiatives include the promotion of
townships as black/African cultural tourism desti-
nations, the hosting of cultural and arts festivals,
urban redevelopment programmes, heritage tour-
ism, the promotion of newly identified tourist
routes and the massive expansion in game parks
that is now taking place. In addition to a wide range
of private-sector initiated tourism ventures focusing
on game viewing, cultural tourism and the estab-
lishment of tourism routes, many local authority-
initiated tourism endeavours can be identified.
Tourism has come to be widely recognized by local
authorities in South Africa as a mechanism through
which development can be attained, yielding ben-
efits for the host community. Evidence is to be
found in the significant number of local authority
applications received by the national LED Fund to
support tourism ventures such as the construction
of cultural villages and craft centres (Binns and Nel
2002). This is essentially a poverty alleviation fund
and resultant tourism endeavours need to be
appreciated in that light. In a parallel undertaking, a
number of developmental corridors have been
identified across the country, known as ‘Spatial
Development Initiatives’ (SDIs), many of which
have explicit tourism foci, seeking to encourage the
establishment and promotion of tourism facilities
and resources.
In response to development challenges and their
relatively new mandate to pursue LED, with policy
and the aforementioned financial support from
national government, local authorities in South
Africa are clearly embracing a range of tourism
projects. These range from the explicit formation of
tourism promotion units in large cities such as
Durban and Cape Town, designed to promote
cultural, heritage and recreational activities, through
to small town programmes with a very specific
focus, such as a single cultural event or the exploi-
tation of a natural feature and resources. Some of
the more noteworthy tourism-based LED initiatives
in South Africa include the redevelopment of the
Newtown area in central Johannesburg as a cultural
precinct, the promotion of township tours and the
development of township tourist facilities, such as
Lookout Hill in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, and the
massive redevelopment of abandoned harbour
facilities in Cape Town to create a world-class
waterfront facility. In smaller centres, and drawing
on central government LED funds (DPLG 2001),
equally impressive activities are being pursued. For
example, in the small town of Humansdorp in
Eastern Cape province, an imposing African cultural
centre is being built, based on the area’s rich
cultural and archaeological heritage. Meanwhile, in
Lamberts Bay on the Cape west coast, with its
239
rich bird and marine life, a purpose-designed bird
observation and visitor centre has been built. The
promotion of local arts, crafts and cultural festivals
features particularly prominently across the
country, as in Grahamstown (Eastern Cape) and
Oudtshoorn (Western Cape), whilst the develop-
ment of scenic, cultural and historical trails
has enjoyed much success in Western Cape,
Mpumulanga and KwaZulu-Natal provinces.
Heritage tourism, based on the use of abandoned
mine facilities, is a feature of development projects
in Johannesburg (Gold Reef City), Kimberley and
Pilgrim’s Rest. More up-market tourism develop-
ment initiatives include the many large casino and
entertainment complexes which are now found in
all the major cities, together with impressive
business-tourism facilities in the shape of inter-
national convention centres (Rogerson 2000; Binns
and Nel 2002; Nel and Binns 2002).
From an institutional perspective, most local
authorities have a long-standing tradition of running
tourism bureaux to advertise local attractions and
accommodation. Increasingly, in recent years most
centres have identified tourism promotion as a core
aspect of their economic development strategies,
which are directly linked to Economic Development
departments, as is the case in both the cities of
Durban and Cape Town. In Cape Town, tourism-
based development extends beyond the marketing
of existing attractions to the promotion of new
assets. Within this context, defined attempts to
encourage ‘township tourism’ are being attempted
with the creation of the ‘Lookout Hill’ tourism and
craft node in the Khayelitsha low-income com-
munity being a key case in point (Gretton personal
communication 2001). In Durban, the area-based
development agency in the poor black area of Cato
Manor is also overseeing township tourism tours
and aggressively promoting the local craft industry
(Eising personal comunication 2002). It is note-
worthy that local authorities are recognizing their
assets, such as natural attractions (e.g. wild animals,
forests and lakes), cultural and historical features
(e.g. forts, museums and townships) or specific
events (e.g. arts festivals and sporting events),
as activities worth promoting because of their
potential developmental impact. Whilst world-class
cities such as Cape Town have a guaranteed tourist
market, smaller and less well-known centres are
unlikely to be able to rely to the same degree on
tourism.
Whilst the apparent tourism boom that places
such as Cape Town are experiencing is self-evident,
and a logical inspiration to all towns, the reality is
that the tourism market is both finite and discern-
ing. Not all localities can realistically hope to benefit
from tourism-based LED and, for example, the
240 Tourism as a local development strategy in South Africa
market will only sustain a limited number of similar
craft villages, as can be witnessed in the closure of
a large number of such enterprises across the
Eastern Cape. Many local government endeavours
are obviously designed to benefit and involve the
host community, drawing on their skills and aspir-
ations. It is a sad reality that remarkably few of them
actually prove to be economically viable. Far more
successful are the up-market, business-focused
ventures of the larger local authorities. Support for
waterfront developments and convention centres
are cases in point, and although economically suc-
cessful, such ventures in Cape Town and Durban
have attracted strong criticism on the grounds that
they do not adequately involve community mem-
bers, few benefits devolve to them, and that the
developments are undertaken without adequate
concern being given to affected communities
(Maharaj and Ramballi 1998; Marks and Bezzoli
2001). This discussion does, however, prompt the
question as to whether pro-poor local development
strategies can realistically achieve the same results
as market-led initiatives, a consideration that will be
revisited in the two case studies that follow.
Having examined the broad evidence for the use
of tourism as a development strategy, the focus of
the paper now shifts to an examination of how two
localities in South Africa are consciously trying to
promote LED and job creation through the utiliz-
ation of their natural and cultural attractions as
tourism strategies. Both Utrecht (KwaZulu-Natal)
and Still Bay (Western Cape) provide good
examples of how local ‘resources’ can be effectively
utilized and ‘packaged’ for tourism development
through the combination of innovation, place-
marketing and natural beauty. The degree to which
they are employment-generating, community-
empowering, poverty-alleviating and economically
sustainable strategies does, however, need to be
carefully evaluated. Whilst Still Bay indicates the
potential of market-led development to improve
local employment and social conditions, the
Utrecht case, though seeking a defined market
niche, has had to rely on what are essentially
poverty relief funds from the state and has yet to
achieve comparable levels of success.
Still Bay, Western Cape
One of the most successful examples of tourism-
driven LED in South Africa is the small coastal resort
of Still Bay, which is situated on the southern coast
of the Western Cape province (see Figure 1). This
small town of some 4000 people has experienced
rapid expansion and development as a result of
defined tourism promotion endeavours (Veldsman
personal communication 2001). In parallel with so
many development initiatives elsewhere in the
world, it had its genesis in a specific economic crisis
(Hudson 1995), namely the collapse of the histori-
cally dominant fishing industry in the 1980s as a
result of competition and resource depletion. This
situation led to an effective 85% unemployment rate
in Still Bay’s neighbouring low-income black town-
ship of Melkhoutfontein, aggravating pre-existing
problems of apartheid-induced neglect and in-
adequate service provision. The development
response in the town has been driven by the suc-
cessful utilization of both ‘eco-tourism’ resources
and an appeal to leisure-based activities.
Fortunately, Still Bay has several key assets:
1 exceptional natural beauty and beaches;
2 key social entrepreneurs and community leaders;
and
3 established community organizations that can
exercise a leadership role.
Situated on the ‘Garden Route’, an area of lakes,
mountains and sea, between Cape Town and Port
Elizabeth, Still Bay is located in one of South Africa’s
premier tourism regions and has a definable tour-
ism resource, which until the 1990s had not been
fully utilized. Having local leaders who can drive the
development process and encourage community
participation has been recognized elsewhere as a
key ingredient in development initiatives (Stöhr
1990). In terms of local leadership, as is common in
racially sensitive societies such as South Africa,
community reconciliation and development require
collaboration between leaders of both black and
white communities. In this case, the black commu-
nity leader, Moses Kleynhans, recognized that his
people were in a desperate situation, whilst a key
social entrepreneur from the white community,
Anthea Rossouw, appreciated the very real devel-
opment challenges that existed both in the town
and particularly in the black township, and the need
to identify a sustainable and empowering develop-
ment strategy. Though playing a key role in encour-
aging development endeavours in the early 1990s,
these leaders, however, could not have succeeded
without local institutional support. This ‘institutional
thickness’ helped considerably to lay the basis for
development, as a result of the presence of an
active business chamber, a recently established
Tourism and Economic Forum, the Jagersbosch
Community Care Centre (which has acted as a
development company channelling and man-
aging funds), and the cooperation of the local
authority, which recognized and accepted its
responsibility to address social and economic
development backlogs in the town (Rossouw per-
sonal communications 1997 1999 2001 2002; e.tv
1998).
 Tourism as a local development strategy in South Africa
Figure 1 South Africa, Still Bay and Utrecht
Initial collaboration between the two key leaders
focused on providing urgently needed health and
social welfare facilities, notably a clinic and a care
centre for the elderly. Subsequent endeavours have
led to housing construction and improvements in
educational facilities. The support of the local
government, local citizens and appeals to external
government agencies provided the necessary
resources for these projects. However, job creation
still needed to be addressed, as did raising overall
standards of living in the town. As a result, the
tourism development focus emerged from the
realization that Still Bay lacked adequate resources
to solve its difficulties independently, and that
sustainable economic development could only
be achieved through tapping into a definable
economic resource – in this case tourism,
which was recognized as being a ‘cash cow’. Local
241
stakeholders clearly recognized that ‘the whole
future of the town lay in tourism’ (e.tv 1998; Olivier
personal commmunication 2001).
Starting in the early 1990s, the area’s natural
beauty and tranquillity were successfully utilized
and promoted as a definable marketing strategy to
attract tourists, second-home buyers and retirees.
Tourism is promoted through an aggressive market-
ing strategy, which promotes the town through
using the catch-phrase of ‘The Bay of Sleeping
Beauty’. This campaign is overseen by the Tourism
and Economic Forum, with the support of the local
Chamber of Business. Two tourism bureaux were
established, one in the town and one in the town-
ship, to oversee the process and provide support.
The campaign led to significant private sector
investment, as detailed below, which in turn has
created the jobs to employ the unemployed
242 Tourism as a local development strategy in South Africa
ex-fishermen and to fund community development.
Instead of being a welfare-dependent project, the
initiative has sought to spread developmental
benefits through encouraging the expansion of the
private sector. As a result, the endeavour is recog-
nized as one in which ‘a community has pulled
itself up by its bootstraps’ (Cape Argus 1997).
The tourism assets and attractions that are being
actively promoted and developed in the town
include:
+ its impressive beaches;
+ the area’s tranquillity;
+ its archaeological heritage, in the shape of
ancient stone ‘fish traps’ built by the Khoi-Khoi
people;
+ an annual town festival;
+ whale watching;
+ special ‘out of season’ sporting events;
+ the establishment of the country’s only ‘botanical
garden’ in a township, where plants from across
the region have been collected;
+ a community craft centre that manufactures and
sells products unique to the area; and
+ the staffing and operation of two tourism
bureaux, which together actively encourage
‘township tourism’.
Key achievements from this concerted tourism
development drive, based on the definable assets
of the town, include an increase in the number of
tourists from just a few thousand in the early 1990s,
to 25 000 in 1999. In addition, some 250 new
houses were built during the 1990s, expanding the
permanent residence base of the town. In parallel,
the expansion of the number of businesses from
just over 60 in 1990 to 191 by 2001 has taken
place, as has the creation of nearly 700 permanent
jobs. These new jobs are located in the growing
business sector, in domestic service in newly built
homes, and in the construction sector, which has
experienced unrestricted expansion. As a result,
unemployment has shrunk from 85% in Melkhout-
fontein to nearly zero. Whilst the actual number of
jobs created might appear quite low, it has to be
remembered that this development has taken place
in a town of only 4000 people (Marais personal
communication 2001a; Olivier personal communi-
cation 2001; Rossouw personal communication
2001, Veldsman personal communication 2001).
The achievements of tourism-driven develop-
ment in the town are clearly quite remarkable. Even
though it is difficult to escape the conclusion that
members of the black community are still at the
lowest end of the social hierarchy, the radical
expansion of employment opportunities and the
parallel provision of social facilities have clearly
transformed standards of living in the community.
Key ingredients of success appear to have been the
apolitical nature of the development initiative, its
focus on both economic and social development
and attempts to address historical inequalities
(Kleynhans personal communication 2001). From a
pro-poor perspective, the Still Bay experience indi-
cates that market-driven tourism development does
have the potential to assist poor communities.
However, tourism is a ‘fickle’ economic sector,
given its seasonality and lack of year-round activity.
In addition, concerns need to be raised regarding
its environmental impact and whether continued
expansion can actually maintain the projected
image of ‘tranquillity’. Nonetheless, the case of Still
Bay shows the potential of local actors to jointly
seek to improve social and economic conditions
through the uitilization of local resources, together
with external, private sector led investment. It is
interesting to note that a local television channel
commented that ‘the Still Bay story is a story of
transformation, hope and development’ (e.tv
1998). More recently, in 2002, the achievements of
the town were recognized through the award of the
prize for the ‘Best Community Tourism Association’
at the annual national tourism awards ceremony
(Rossouw personal communication 2002).
Utrecht, KwaZulu-Natal
The second case study investigates the
environmental- and culture-based tourism activities
that have been initiated in the town of Utrecht
in KwaZulu-Natal province, in a direct effort to
diversify the town’s economy following economic
decline, and to simultaneously promote job
creation and associated local economic develop-
ment (see Figure 1). Since the early 1990s, Utrecht
has suffered the fate of so many small mining
towns in South Africa and elsewhere that have
experienced structural decline following resource
depletion (Utrecht TLC 2000a).
Utrecht was founded in 1854 as a rural service
centre, but by the early 1900s, following the dis-
covery of coal, it had become a major mining
centre with four coal mines. At their peak in the
early 1980s, the mines were employing nearly
10 000 workers. However, by the early 1990s,
resource depletion and the closure of the regional
iron and steel works, which had been the chief
purchaser of coal from Utrecht, had devastating
implications for the town and its citizens. By 2001,
there were only 140 permanent jobs left in coal
mining, with smaller numbers of contract workers
being drawn in as and when required. Thousands of
migrant workers were obliged to return to their
rural homes when the mines closed, seriously
 Tourism as a local development strategy in South Africa
impacting on the local retail and service base of the
town. By 2000, the unemployment rate in Utrecht
had reached 50%, businesses had closed and many
families had left town (Utrecht TLC 2000a; Ross
personal communication 2001; Smook personal
communication 2001).
The response of the local community and local
government is particularly instructive in demon-
strating how a town can attempt to face up to its
economic challenges in identifying and pursuing
new economic orientations. The Utrecht case also
indicates the importance of using key local and
social entrepreneurs, and the potential of tourism-
based development to provide a mechanism for
promoting both economic growth and hopefully, in
time, alleviating the entrenched poverty. Whilst the
initiative is not as advanced as that in Still Bay, it still
indicates the potential of tourism to serve as a
development mechanism through which local
economies can be re-oriented.
Key catalysts driving the Utrecht development
initiative have included the early recognition, at the
beginning of the 1990s, of the need to diversify the
town’s economy in anticipation of mine closure.
Concerned local citizens and the local government,
together with the significant support of the mining
company, established a nature conservancy on the
outskirts of the town and built tourist accommo-
dation facilities next to the town dam. The financial
support from the mining company, the willingness
of the local authority to make land available, and of
local citizens to oversee the management of the
conservancy, were all critical in this initial under-
taking (Smook personal communication 2001). As
the 1990s progressed and the total closure of the
mines became inevitable, the situation clearly called
for much more drastic action. The town’s publicity
officer responded in 1998 by calling on local resi-
dents to recognize the severity of the crisis that
faced them, and to help identify new economic
activities away from mining. This person, Brigadier
Smook, acted as the key social entrepreneur,
galvanizing people to identify the challenges that
faced them and to collectively find ways through
which their local economy could be diversified. The
general consensus reached was that the only logical
way to create jobs was through enhancing the
tourism-based potential of the region. According to
the Acting Municipal Manager, ‘The biggest thing
we have to market is the beauty, peace and
tranquillity of the area’ (Marais personal communi-
cation 2001b). The initiative has been fortunate in
that it was endorsed at community meetings by
both the black and white communities of the town,
and also by the traditional leaders in the town’s
hinterland (Le Roux personal communication 2001;
Mtshali personal communication 2001; Stannard
243
personal communication 2001). In addition, the
town was able to continue to draw on the
resources and support of the mining company as it
has gradually scaled down its operations. More
importantly, under the Brigadier’s leadership, the
town has successfully secured three successive
grants from the government’s Local Economic
Development Fund to facilitate the necessary infra-
structural development. Resources have been
channeled through the local government, which
has actively supported and endorsed the tourism-
based development strategy that has been
embarked on (Stannard personal communication
2001).
Key tourism-based activities undertaken in the
town, in addition to the earlier establishment of
tourism accommodation and the nature conser-
vancy, include:
+ establishing and stocking a 1500 ha game park
adjacent to the town with the help of the mine
authorities;
+ providing accommodation facilities within the
game park for school groups and tour parties;
+ establishing an economically and ecologically
sustainable game farm (700 ha) adjacent to the
game reserve, such that the town itself is effec-
tively now surrounded by the game park and
farm. It is intended that, through time, the game
fence currently separating the town from the park
and farm will be removed, thus creating a unique
nature-based tourism experience in the town;
+ establishing, with government funds, the Utrecht
‘Arts and Crafts Association’ to provide training
and marketing support to local artisans in a
variety of skills;
+ establishing at the entrance to the town a cultural
village with workshop and retail outlets for the
artisans;
+ building a tourism bureau at the town’s entrance,
adjacent to a major provincial road, and erecting
a large thatched gateway over the town’s
entrance, which bears the logo ‘The Village in a
Game Park’ (LED News 1998; Smook 1998;
Stannard 2000; Utrecht TLC 2000b; Smook
personal communication 2001; Stannard
personal communication 2001; Sunday Times
2001).
The achievements to date are not yet as dramatic as
those attained in Still Bay, but do nonetheless,
represent a concerted effort to improve local con-
ditions. Nearly £400 000 of government and other
donor support has been secured thus far, making
the project one of the best supported LED initia-
tives in the country (Smook personal com-
munication 2001). Significant infrastructural
244 Tourism as a local development strategy in South Africa
development has taken place, in terms of the
erection of game fences, the provision of tourism
facilities, the construction of the craft centre,
publicity offices and town gateway. The Arts and
Crafts Association provides training and support in
ten different craft activities, and local producers are
able to sell their products through the Association.
Despite these positive aspects, job creation has so
far been rather limited. It is anticipated that the
game industry will have generated only 50 jobs by
2004. Though rather modest relative to the massive
loss of mining employment, as the town’s Mayor,
Mr Mtshali (personal communication 2001) has
stated, ‘one has to start somewhere and tourism is
the most logical base, which through time will
hopefully generate downstream economic activity
in sectors such as the hospitality industry, retailing
and services’. The focusing of the community on a
new economic alternative, active networking with
urban and rural residents, with the vital backing of
the mining company, the local authority and
national government financial support, are all
important aspects of the initiative. In addition, the
project is well-managed, game operations are over-
seen by an experienced game manager, who is
ensuring that the natural resources are managed
sensitively, such that they can provide a definable
and sustainable eco-tourism experience. On the
negative side, however, there is no evidence yet
that the needs of the poor are being addressed to
any significant degree and, as we have already
seen, job creation can only be described as modest
at best. Only time will reveal whether the develop-
mental basis that has been laid in Utrecht can
truly uplift the local community and transform and
re-orientate the town’s economy.
Conclusion
Though differing in both concept and achieve-
ments, the general overview of tourism-based
development and the two case studies examined
here clearly illustrate the potential of tourism-led
development to lay a basis for the re-orientation
of local economies and to gradually address the
apartheid legacy. Whilst the Utrecht initiative is still
in its infancy and has yet to achieve significant
economic and employment benefits, it does seem
to have the potential to partially achieve this. In the
case of Still Bay, the basis of the town’s economy
has been altered dramatically from being a fishing
centre to one in which tourism and tourism-related
activities now drive the local economy. Further-
more, the legacies of apartheid are being addressed
in Still Bay, a process which Utrecht is currently
embarking upon. In both cases the development
experiences reflect the coming together of a range
of internationally recognized features of successful
LED, such as the presence of respected and
talented local leaders, local partnership formation,
local resources with development potential, reason-
ably united communities, government support and
the pursuit of innovative development strategies
(Stöhr 1990; Nel 2001). However, it must be
recognized that the Utrecht initiative cannot be said
to have yet restored more than a small proportion
of the jobs that were lost with the demise of coal
mining. In addition, whilst acknowledging that local
authorities should ideally represent the entire com-
munity, it would be difficult to say that the poorest
sections of the community have been fully
integrated into the endeavour. In Still Bay, however,
there have been significant employment gains, and
channels of communication have clearly been
opened between once very separate communities,
leading to a concerted effort to integrate the town-
ship into the town’s overall tourism profile. It is,
however, difficult to avoid reaching the conclusion
that the poorest elements of the community in
reality do not truly own or have much control over
the development process. Although employ-
ment opportunities have undoubtedly increased,
social advancement has been limited and future
prospects will inevitably depend upon a sustained,
yet unpredictable, tourism boom. The Still Bay
initiative is clearly a market-led one, which has
generated tangible benefits for the local community
resulting from private investment in the area. To
date, Utrecht has depended heavily on government
poverty relief funds and has yet to receive signifi-
cant external private sector investment. Though it is
dangerous to over-emphasize the apparent con-
trasts that exist, the significant growth that has
accrued in Still Bay as a result of its appeal to
private investors cannot be overlooked in any
analysis of the key catalysts of both LED and
tourism-based development.
At a broader level, the two case studies reflect
the potential of tourism-based LED to serve as both
a catalyst for economic and social development,
and as a mechanism through which South Africa’s
legacy of apartheid-based injustices can be partly
addressed. Whilst it is still early days in Utrecht, and
it is unclear just how many jobs will eventually be
created, the Still Bay development process, though
acknowledging the very real constraints mentioned
above, has transformed the town from a place of
economic despair and hopelessness to one in
which there is now effectively full employment in a
range of newly developed activities. In the light of
the mediocre results achieved by LED projects
generally in South Africa, and indeed globally, it is
important to recognize the significant growth that
the creative manipulation of local resources and
 Tourism as a local development strategy in South Africa
utilization of the natural environment have
achieved in Still Bay (Dewar 1998; Nel 2001).
Furthermore, tapping into the potential of the
external market has clearly helped to drive the
economic restructuring process. In other South
African centres, with less able leaders and/or less
attractive resources, it is likely that higher degrees
of local state intervention, as opposed to mere
facilitation, may well be needed in order to create
jobs and drive economic revival. Such intervention
is in line with what Rogerson (2000) refers to as the
‘market-critical’ approach, which reflects a funda-
mental contradiction inherent within LED, namely
the question of how to respond to market failure,
job loss and urgent development challenges in
localities with low economic potential, when there
is a prevailing neo-liberal macro-economic ethic in
a country (Nel and Binns 2002). The answer to this
question is not immediately apparent, but it seems
inevitable that development disparities between
those areas favoured by the free market and those
that are not, will only increase.
The two cases studies and preceding evidence
regarding tourism promotion by local governments
in the country indicate that a range of localities
clearly identify tourism as a definable growth path
to pursue. Whilst many centres have had their
expectations met, there is a danger that market
saturation could threaten activities such as game
parks and craft centres. At a broader level, as Dann
(2002) has argued, issues such as the over-use of
local resources, high levels of pollution and nega-
tive social impacts on local residents are problem-
atic. Such issues will need to be balanced against
the employment and economic gains that are being
made. A related concern that has arisen in Still Bay
is how to balance the local economic growth
imperative, whilst at the same time preserving the
core asset, namely the ‘bay of sleeping beauty’.
From an environmental perspective, it is possible
that increasing pressure from tourists and new
residents could make this idyll difficult to maintain.
There are clear sustainability challenges and long-
term success cannot be assured at this point in time
(Wahab and Pigram 1997; Sharpley 2002).
The emergence of tourism as a leading economic
activity in recent decades is undisputed and, as
Williams argues, it is now seen as ‘. . . a catalyst
for modernization, economic development and
prosperity in emerging nations in the Third World’
(Williams 1998, 1). In South Africa, the potential of
tourism to revitalize local economies at a crucial
time in the country’s history has been seized upon
by many local authorities and stakeholder groups
who wish to use it as an LED strategy to create jobs
and refocus their local economies. But from an
economic perspective, it must be asked whether
245
there will come a point at which the market
becomes saturated with an excessive number of
broadly similar cultural facilities and game reserves.
Relative to the broader context of current
debates on tourism and development, whilst
neither Utrecht nor Still Bay have an overtly ‘pro-
poor’ mission, there is no doubt that jobs have
been created, people have been empowered and
poverty has been alleviated. The case studies do,
however, illustrate the significance of visionary
leaders and their ability to develop crucial linkages
and partnerships which embrace diverse expertise
and financial support, whilst engendering a spirit of
collaboration and transparency in their actions.
Whilst a move towards pro-poor tourism seems
admirable in principle, there are some crucial
practical issues to consider, not least how the poor
can best be mobilized, and their attention diverted
to new ventures which might inevitably detract
from other livelihood coping strategies that are
fundamental to their survival. Furthermore, who or
what will act as the catalyst to empower the poor to
participate in tourist activities – market forces, local
champions, civil society, NGOs, government or
some other institution or individual? These issues
seem particularly significant in the context of pro-
poor tourism development in South Africa, where
under the apartheid regime the majority of the poor
were disenfranchised, often denied basic education
and skills training and understandably suffered from
a lack of self-confidence and empowerment within
the wider community. As the world media spotlight
is focused on the Johannesburg ‘Earth Summit’
in September 2002, it is likely that the future
prospects and implications of different types of
tourism, particularly in poor countries, will be a key
area of debate.
Acknowledgements
Tony Binns would like to acknowledge the
generous support of The Leverhulme Trust in the
award of a Study Abroad Fellowship 2000–2001.
Etienne Nel would like to acknowledge a grant from
the National Research Foundation of South Africa
‘Sustainable Livelihoods Programme’.
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