Abstract
The importance of route tourism is well-documented in both international and local scholarship. The planning of tourism routes has been regarded as a potential vehicle for expanding tourism and spreading its impacts to local economies and communities. Against the backdrop of a review of international scholarship and the South African experience of route tourism, the aim of this research is to investigate tourism stakeholders’ perceptions of the impact of one tourism route, namely the Panorama Route in Mpumalanga. The focus area is based on the Panorama Route region - from Nelspruit, White River, Hazyview, Sabie, Graskop, Pilgrims Rest and Lydenburg. The study uses a qualitative research method to analyse the perceptions of key private (formal and informal businesses) and public sector stakeholders about the development and the impact of route tourism along the Panorama Route. The research also uses documentary sources in the form of local and provincial planning documents and most importantly, the data collected from 63 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders in the Panorama Route Region. The findings indicate that the Panorama Route has been in use since the early 1930s, however there is minimal new product development occurring along the Panorama Route. Nevertheless, there are a variety of formal and informal businesses that have been developed along the Panorama Route and as a result, there is a high rate of employment opportunities which contributes towards reducing poverty rates for the local community. The stakeholder interviews confirm that major challenges exist for the successful development of the Panorama Route. These include a lack of infrastructural development, crime, insufficient funding from local government, and lack of marketing. The study concludes with recommendations on how the development and the impact of route tourism might be enhanced in order to improve the planning of the Panorama Route in Mpumalanga. Key words: tourism, stakeholder, impact, Panorama Route, route tourism.