What makes South African tourism competitive?

Abstract

Global tourism is constantly increasing, creating fierce competition between tourist destination proponents. Because of this, various researchers have developed models which aim to determine the factors that make destinations competitive to give them a competitive advantage over others. This applies in South Africa too. The last study carried out to determine the factors that make this country a competitive destination found that the factors that were most important for South Africa’s competitiveness were safety and security, quality service, value for money, geographical features and attitude towards tourists. Competitive research specifically regarding this country has been limited since 2002. South Africa’s global competitive ranking is not improving at the same rate as previously, making it necessary to explore the components that contribute to its competitiveness in this industry, which could contribute to the strategic management strategy of the country. The goal of this paper was thus to determine which components determine South Africa’s competitiveness. To achieve this goal a structured questionnaire was emailed to delegates who attended the Tourism Indaba in 2013. Thirty six (36) attributes were measured on a five point Lickert scale and a factor analysis was done to determine the factors that contribute to the competitiveness of South Africa. Nine factors was identified namely cuisine, tourism services, location, economic benefits, attributes, entertainment and activities, stability, African experience and brand and image.