Abstract
The importance of tourism to local economies is well-documented in both international and local scholarship. Tourism is viewed as a potential driver for local economic development and assisting the economic transformation of localities that are facing stagnation from the decline of other economic sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing or mining. The aim in this research is to investigate the potential of tourism as a tool for local economic development of King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality in South Africa‟s Eastern Cape Province. The focus is on both the towns of Mthatha and Mqanduli. The study uses a qualitative research method to investigate the perceptions of key private and public sector stakeholders to the challenges of tourism and local economic development in King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality. The research uses documentary sources in terms of local planning documents and most importantly the data collected from 53 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders in the municipality. The findings indicate that tourism has been in decline since the early 2000s in the KSDM. Nevertheless, the municipality has identified tourism as one of its priority sectors for promoting local economic development and addressing local problems of poverty and high unemployment. The research shows that the KSDM has significant potential for tourism development and that the municipality has a number of critical assets that can be used to support tourism development. Nevertheless, the analysis reveals that municipal assets are under-performing for tourism development. The stakeholder interviews confirm that major challenges exist for the successful leveraging of tourism for local economic development. These include crime, infrastructural shortcomings, lack of proper tourism product package, limited budget allocation for tourism and lack of marketing. The study concludes with recommendations on how the underutilised potential of tourism might be enhanced in order to improve the local economy in one of South Africa‟s poorest regions.
M.Com. (Tourism and Hospitality Management)