tourism sector profile

Provincial Industrial Development Strategy (PIDS) Implementation Plan, 2012

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Tourism Industry Profile

The tourism industry has been identified as a key mechanism for economic growth and job creation in the

Eastern Cape by both the provincial Tourism Master Plan and the Provincial Industrial Strategy (PIDS). These

documents both recognise that the Eastern Cape has a diverse set of product offerings, numerous competitive

advantages and several unique selling points which to date have not been fully utilised. Furthermore the

geographic spread of these offerings presents an opportunity for planners to not only capitalise on them to reach

conventional economic targets, but to also utilise them as a vehicle for the growth and development of rural

economies.

Given this increased importance of the tourism industry as an income and employment creator in both the

Eastern Cape and South Africa, this chapter will seek to profile the provincial industry with the intention of

provided a status-quo report on which to base subsequent action plan development.

The subsequent chapter will be structured as follows:

Problem Statement

Theoretical Framework

Tourism Demand

Tourism Supply

SWOT Analysis

.

It should be noted that Tourism is not a distinctive economic sector on its own. The Standard Industrial

Classification (SIC) used to classify economic sectors in the South African economy does not recognise

tourism as a separate sector. This is because the tourism industry is a consumption based service industry

that does not produce a tangible product. The tourism industry however, utilises the products and services of

other classified sectors including Trade, Transport and Business Services.

The tourism industry can therefore be defined as related to all the goods and services linked to a person

staying and travelling outside of their area of residence. While this is a useful definition it frequently leads to

classification errors as it includes many different sources of goods and services from a diverse set of sectors.

The World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) provides a more formal definition of tourism as comprising all

those activities of a person travelling to and staying in places other their usual environment for less than one

consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes excluding employment1. For travel to be classified

as tourism it must meet these three criteria:

Displacement outside of a traveller’s unusual environment

The purpose of the travel must be for a reason other than earning an income

The duration of the travel must be for less than a year.

2.

1 WORLD TOURISM ORGANISATION. 2000. Definition of Tourism. [Online] Av ailable: www.linkbc.ca/torc/downs1/WTOdef initiontourism.pdf

Towards a definition of Tourism and the Tourism Industry

It should be noted that Tourism is not a distinctive economic sector on its own. The Standard Industrial

Classification (SIC) used to classify economic sectors in the South African economy does not recognise

tourism as a separate sector. This is because the tourism industry is a consumption based service industry

that does not produce a tangible product. The tourism industry however, utilises the products and services of

other classified sectors including Trade, Transport and Business Services.

The tourism industry can therefore be defined as related to all the goods and services linked to a person

staying and travelling outside of their area of residence. While this is a useful definition it frequently leads to

classification errors as it includes many different sources of goods and services from a diverse set of sectors.

The World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) provides a more formal definition of tourism as comprising all

those activities of a person travelling to and staying in places other their usual environment for less than one

consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes excluding employment1. For travel to be classified

as tourism it must meet these three criteria:

Displacement outside of a traveller’s unusual environment

The purpose of the travel must be for a reason other than earning an income

The duration of the travel must be for less than a year.

1.

1 WORLD TOURISM ORGANISATION. 2000. Definition of Tourism. [Online] Av ailable: www.linkbc.ca/torc/downs1/WTOdef initiontourism.pdf


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2.1 Problem Statement

The tourism industry is a critical player in the economy of the Eastern Cape contributing significantly to both

employment and GDP. The industry however is characterised by a number of weaknesses including:

Absence of destination building

Underutilisation of tourism’s competitive advantages

Inadequate understanding of provincial tourism trends due to an absence of statistics

Lack of critical tourist infrastructure particularly along the Wild Coast

Fragmented approach to tourism planning by different agencies

In spite of these challenges the Eastern Cape has an abundance of untapped potential particularly in terms of

cultural and historical icons. There is also considerable potential in the field of environmental/adventure tourism,

and using it as a vehicle for greater rural development. Through appropriate support and targeted public

investment, the Eastern Cape tourism industry has the potential to not only attract a greater number of tourists to

the province, but also to become a significant labour absorbing industry.

2.2 Theoretical Framework

In order to profile, analyse and strategically plan for the development of the tourism industry in the Eastern Cape,

an understanding of the theoretical underpinning of the industry as well as its key terms and concepts was

required. As part of this theoretical background the following concepts were considered:

Tourism system theory

Tourism’s linkage with LED

Private sector driven and government

facilitated

Sustainable Tourism

Responsible Tourism

Tourism clustering

Destination Competitiveness

Environmental Perspective

Throughout the development of the PIDS tourism profile the above theoretical concepts were considered, paying

particular note to responsible tourism. Sources of relevant theory are acknowledged in the appendix of this

report.

Understanding Responsible Tourism

Responsible Tourism is defined as an approach to the management of tourism that aims to maximise the

economic, social and environmental benefits for all stakeholders while minimizing costs to destinations (Cape

Town Tourism, 2009). Based on this definition responsible tourism can be seen to have the following

implications:

Implies a proactive approach by relevant stakeholders to develop, market and manage the tourism

industry in a responsible manner, so as to create a competitive advantage.

Industry responsibility to the environment through the promotion of balanced and sustainable

development is imperative, thus focusing on the promotion of environmentally based tourism

activities.

Government and businesses have a responsibility in terms of involving local communities in

tourism thus creating income generating activities by which local communities will benefit.

Tourists, developers, government and industry have a responsibility in terms of respecting,

investing in and developing local cultures, also protecting them from over-commercialisation and

exploitation.


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2.3 Tourism Demand

The objective of this section is to provide an overview of the Eastern Cape tourism market focusing particularly

on the factors that drive tourism demand. Given that the tourism industry is almost exclusively demand driven it is

critically important to have a clear understanding of dynamics within the demand market so as to better gear

interventions at priority areas.

This section starts with an examination of tourism trends at an international, national and provincial level before

examining the visitor profile of tourists travelling to the Eastern Cape. The aim of this analysis is to understand

the relevance of the different tourist market segments looking at factors such as length of stay, accommodation

used, activities undertaken etc.

2.3.1 International Trends

Worldwide, international visitors increased by 2.6% in 2010. This year-on-year improvement in tourist arrivals

somewhat offsets the dip in tourist travel during the 2008/2009 global recession, which saw a sharp drop in

tourism worldwide. France continued to be the top international destination for tourists with almost 79 million

visitors in 2010, an increase of 6.4% from 2009. The United States of America, Spain, China and Italy also all

retained their positions as the top four global destinations.

The global economic recession has had a significant impact on the global tourism industry with the more

established tourist markets (i.e. Europe and America) exhibiting average decline in tourism numbers of 6.4%. It is

evident from the figures provided by World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) that during this period

international tourists sought less expensive tourist destinations in less established and emerging markets –

tourist arrivals in Asia and Africa both declined by less than 1% during the 2008/2009 global recession.

Understanding Responsible Tourism (cont.)

According to Cape Town Tourism (2002) responsible tourism aims to:

Minimise negative economic, environmental and social impacts

Generate greater economic impacts for local people and enhances the well-being of communities

Involve local people in decision making

Make positive contributions to natural and cultural heritage

Enhance the tourism experience through meaningful interactions with local people

Is sensitive to the needs of the physically challenged

Is culturally sensitive

Given these objectives, the sentiment of responsible tourism is best summarised in the Kerala Declaration

(2008) which states:

“Responsible Tourism is not a product; it is an approach which can be used by travellers and holiday makers,

tour operators, accommodation and transport providers, visitor attraction managers, planning authorities,

national, regional/provincial and local government. An integrated approach is required, i nvolving many

stakeholders in any place or space which attracts tourists”.


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e Figure 2.1: Forecasted international tourist tr ips by region

Source: WTTC (2010)

The African continent as a whole is becoming increasingly more popular amongst international tourists, with its

share of international tourists increasing from 2.8% in 2000 to 4.2% in 2010. South Africa’s share of the total

African market has grown slightly over the last decade increasing from 15.1% in 2000 to 16.8% in 2010.

The tourism industry’s direct contribution to the global economy increased by an estimated 7.1% from US$ 1,641

billion in 2009 to US$ 1,757 billion in 2010, resulting in an overall contribution to global GDP of 2.7%. Equally the

number of direct tourism jobs increased marginally by 0.9% from 95.2 million in 2009 96.1 million in 2010.

Forecasts by the WTTC (2011) estimate that world international tourist arrivals over the 2010 to 2015 period will

increase by an average 4.8% year-on-year. Major drivers of this growth are anticipated to come from countries

within Asia and Africa. Likewise global direct tourism GDP is anticipated to rise to US$2401 billion by 2015, a

year-on-year increase of 6.4%.

These forecasts however are based on pre-2011 economic data. Current trends in the global economy now

suggests that there is a strong likelihood of a protracted economic contraction over the short to medium terms as

a result of both the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and slow growth in the United States of America. These

worsening economic conditions are likely to have a significant impact on the global tourism industry leading to a

downgrading of world international tourist arrivals.

2.3.2 National Trends

The South African tourism industry has also shown robust growth, particularly on the ba ck of the 2010 FIFA

Soccer World Cup. South Africa’s share of foreign tourists visiting the African continent has exhibited a 1.8%

increase between 2009 and 2010. It however remains the second most popular destination on the continent after

Egypt, and hosted an estimated 8.1 million foreign tourists in 2010. This was a 15.1% increase from 2009, well

outstripping the global increase of 6.7%

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

1990 2000 2010 2011 2020

Africa Middle East Asia and Pacific Americas Europe

Actual Forecast

1.6 billion

2.4 billion


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e Figure 2.2: Foreign tourist arrivals in South Africa and the World

Source: World Travel and Tourism Council, WTTC (2010), Pricewaterhouse Coopers, PWC (2011)

Arrivals from African land markets remained very strong during 2010 with a 12.8% (618 453) growth over 2009.

The increase in arrivals from this region was driven by arrivals from Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Mozambique which

grew by 23.3%, 21.7% and 6.9% respectively. Arrivals from African air markets also recorded growth of 14.0%

(41 159) driven by Ghana, Tanzania and Kenya. In l ine with global trends arrivals from overseas markets

increase by 21.1% as the major source markets of Europe and the United States of America began recovering

from the affects of the global economic recession.

Table 2.1: Total Foreign direct spend by tourists, excluding capital expenditure by region

R billions % change

2008 2009 2010 2008-2010

Africa 47.4 38.6 50.5 3.2%

Americas 5.8 3.9 5.2 -5.3%

Asia and Australasia 4.3 3.8 4.5 2.3%

Europe 16.7 13.0 12.4 -13.8%

Total 74.2 59.3 72.6 -1.1%

Source: SAT (2011)

Revenue generated by foreign arrivals (i.e. total foreign direct spend excluding capital expenditure, TFDS)

increased by approximately 22.6% to R 72.6 billion in 2010. This growth was driven by the African land market,

the Americas and Asia & Australasia regions. Increases in volumes, average spend per day and average length

of stay accounted for 76.8%, 11.9% and 11.3% respectively of the increase in TFDS excluding capital

expenditure between 2009 and 2010.

The African land market was the largest contributor to total tourism revenue in 2010 generating approximately

R 47.1 billion in revenue, a R 12 billion increase (34.2%) from 2009. An increase in the number of arrivals and

average spend per foreign tourist helped significantly to drive this growth. Revenue generated by air markets

increased by 6.6% (R 1.6 billion) from R 24.2 billion in 2009 to R 25.5 billion in 2010. Although the total revenue

from air markets grew over the 2009/2010 period, both the European and African air markets saw a contraction in

revenue of 4.6% and 2.9% respectively.

-10%

-5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

2005 2010 2015

World

South Africa (WTTC) Forecast

South Africa (PWC)


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e 2.3.3 Provincial Trends

International Tourists

The Eastern Cape continues to lag behind other provinces in terms of attracting foreign visitors, managing to

capture only 4.4% (approximately 354 957 foreign tourists) of international arrivals in 2010, down from 4.5% in

2009. In terms of bednights however, the Eastern Cape, along with the Western Cape, were the only provinces

that managed to increase their overall share of total bednights in 2010. In 2010, total foreign bednights increased

by 0.7% to 3.3 million. This translates into a 5.0% share of total foreign bednights in 2010.

Figure 2.3: Share of total bednights by province in 2010

Source: SAT (2011)

The Eastern Cape also did not perform well in attracting foreign tourism spending, with the province only

generating R 3.6 billion (ranked 5th) in TFDS excluding capital expenditure in 2010. This is significantly above the

2009 figure of R 2.9 billion. Over the last two years the province has had some success in attracting greater

foreign direct expenditure. This increase is probably attributable to the Eastern Cape being one of the host

provinces during the FIFA 2010 World Cup.

Table 2.2: Total Foreign direct spend by tourists, excluding capital expenditure by province1

2010 20092

Province Rank TFDS (R billions) Rank

Gauteng 1 26.93 1

Western Cape 2 21.71 2

KwaZulu-Natal 3 6.82 3

Mpumalanga 4 4.36 4

Eastern Cape 5 3.63 6

Limpopo 6 3.48 5

Free State 7 3.19 7

North West 8 1.82 8

Northern Cape 9 0.58 9

1 In 2009, Statistics SA for the f irst time was able to make the distinction between tourists and day visitors and subsequently

started a new data series. As a result of this change, the results presented hare are not comparable with other reports. TFDS per province for 2009 was calculated using the new methodologies TFDS figure, multiplies by the provinces share of bednights. This is the same methodology used by SAT. Source: SAT (2011) 2

TFDS per province for 2009 was calculated using the new methodologies TFDS figure, multiplies by the provinces share of

bednights. This is the same methodology used by SAT. Source: SAT (2011)

Gauteng, 37.1%

Western Cape, 29.9%

KwaZulu-Natal, 9.4%

Mpumalanga, 6.0%

Eastern Cape, 5.0% Limpopo, 4.8%

Free State, 4.4% North West, 2.5% Northern Cape, 0.8%


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Provinces such as Gauteng and the Western Cape however continue to capture over two thirds of foreign tourism

spending, strongly suggesting that these provinces have more established and/or recognised tourism products

and brands. This has certain key implications on the Eastern Cape tourism industry particularly in terms of how

and on what it competes.

Domestic Tourists

The Eastern Cape has a significantly stronger domestic tourism market with an estimated 4 million domestic

tourists in 2010. This makes the Eastern Cape the third most attractive province for domestic tourists after

KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng. Domestic tourist numbers however have fallen sharply since 2007, when domestic

tourism peaked at 6.2 million visits. The decline was most marked between 2009 and 2010, when domestic

tourist arrivals declined by 29.8%. The result of this trend has been that Gauteng has surpassed the Eastern

Cape as the second most attractive province for domestic tourists.

Domestic tourism within the Eastern Cape as indicated is largely intra-provincial that is it comprises mainly

Eastern Cape residents travelling to other parts of the province. This trend changed significantly in 2010 when

only 58.3% of domestic trips were intra-provincial compared to 78.1% of all domestic trips in 2009 and 76.2% in

2008. The majority of these trips in 2010 were to visit friends and family (VFR) (77.2%). This was an increase of

5.2% from 2009 and 7.9% from 2008. Conversely during this period domestic tourists visiting the Eastern Cape

for their holidays declined from 702 000 in 2008 to 280 000 in 2010.

In terms of the point of origin of these domestic tourists, almost two-thirds where from other parts of the Eastern

Cape (see Figure 2.4). Tourists travelling from the Western Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal accounted for a

further 33.3% of the total domestic tourist arrivals to the Eastern Cape. Marginal domestic tourist arrivals were

registered from the North West and Free State Provinces, with almost no tourists arriving from Limpopo,

Mpumalanga and Northern Cape.

Figure 2.4: Annual Domestic Arrivals from Source Provinces

65.3% 18.9

%

3.3%

11.1%

0.1%

1.2%

Source: Adapted from SAT (2009)


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e The sharp decline in domestic tourist numbers between 2009 and 2010 has subsequently had a negative impact

on provincial tourism revenue which over the period declined by 31.7%. This means that the Eastern Cape only

managed to generate R 2.84 billion from domestic tourists in 2010 compared to R 4.16 billion in 2009.

The decline in domestic tourism revenue, while attributable to lower tourist volumes, is also due to a decrease in

the average amount of money spent by domestic tourist per trip which over the same period fell by 2.7%. The

combination of these factors has resulted in the Eastern Cape share of total South African domestic tourist

expenditure declining to 13.5% in 2010 from a peak of 18.8% in 2009.

Table 2.3: Domestic Tourism Revenue by Province3

2008 2009 2010

R billions % share R billions % share R billions % share

Eastern Cape 4.2 16.5% 4.1 18.8% 2.8 13.4%

Free State 1.1 4.6% 1.2 5.6% 0.7 3.7%

Gauteng 3.7 14.6% 3.6 16.5% 4.5 21.5%

KwaZulu-Natal 8.1 31.7% 6.4 29.0% 5.8 27.9%

Limpopo 1.8 7.3% 1.3 6.3% 2.0 9.7%

Mpumalanga 1.7 6.7% 1.2 5.6% 1.2 5.7%

North West 0.9 3.7% 1.0 4.6% 1.7 8.4%

Northern Cape 0.6 2.4% 0.4 2.0% 0.1 0.7%

Western Cape 3.1 12.5% 2.5 11.6% 1.9 9.1%

Total 25.2 22.1 21.1

Source: SAT (2011)

Another factor contributing to the decline of the Eastern Cape’s domestic tourism revenue has been the overall

contraction of the industry nationally, which over the last three years has declined by 16.3%. Equally the number

of domestic tourists that indicated that they could not afford to travel increased over the same period from 28.0%

in 2009 to 31.0% in 2010.

These trends have forced provinces to compete more aggressively for a shrinking piece of the domestic tourism

pie. Furthermore provinces with more established brands and better developed products are better position to

capture these domestic tourists.

2.4 Tourism Supply

The following section of the Tourism Profile will focus on creating a broad inventory of the current tourism

offerings in the Eastern Cape. During this process it is important to consider tourism as a system with numerous

interrelated factors that are critical to the functioning of the system as a whole.

The figure below explains how the tourism system functions. The figure represents the tou rism supply side, which

is an ensemble of all tourism operations in the provinces such as accommodation, travel agents, tour operators,

airlines, restaurants, craft sales and any activity designed to satisfy the tourist’s demand.

In order to ensure that the Eastern Cape is competitive and will achieve maximisation of its tourism potential, the

supply of tourism products of a certain quality, needs to meet the demand of the tourism market. This section of

3

Total Domestic Tourism Revenue is calculated by applying the annual number of domestic tourists per province by the Total

Spend per Trip for South Africa (2008: R 780, 2009: R 730, 2010: R 710). These f igures are estimates as the value of Spend per Trip varies based on the nature of the Trip i.e. Domestic tourists that travel for business purposes spent 2.8 times more than the 2010 average.


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e the tourism profile will examine the supply of tourism products, with a specific focus on accommodation and

attractions in the Eastern Cape.

Tourism supply is defined as the various tourism operations and activities that are available for tourists at a

particular destination. Tourism supply incorporates al l tourism operations including: accommodation, experiences

and attractions, transport, food and beverages, recreation, entertainment, travel services, tour guiding and other

tourism services.

Various sources were utilised to determine the supply of tourism products in the Eastern Cape including:

Desktop research

Key stakeholder interviews

Review of ECPTA and TGCSA databases

Material on various tourism products within the Eastern Cape

Figure 2.5 Tourism System Framework

Source: Urban-Econ (2010)

The supply analysis for the Eastern Cape is based on the accommodation supply within the province. It is

however important to note that not all of the accommodation establishments are listed with the relevant

authorities or on the relevant websites and therefore some gaps might exist in the supply analysis.

2.4.1 Accommodation

It has been indicated in the Eastern Cape Tourism Master Plan (2008), that it is difficult to obtain a

comprehensive picture of accommodation supply in the province. Even though tourism products (both


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e accommodation and attractions) are now legally obligated to register with the ECPTA, enforcement is erratic and

as a result has lead to a lack of a compressive database of tourism products in the province.

Furthermore registration to other databases such as the Tourism Grading Council for South Africa (TGCSA) is

voluntary meaning that a comprehensive supply analysis is difficult to undertake.

Although the above shortcomings exist it is still however possible to provide an estimate of the number of

accommodation establishments in the province given the available information. This is achieved through

reviewing both TGCSA database for the Eastern Cape as well as the ECPTA tourism database.

Based on the TGCSA database, there were 1 410 accommodation establishment registered and graded in

Eastern Cape 2010. A review of the ECPTA database indicated a figure of only 137 accommodation

establishments (ECPTA, 2011). This however resents only those establishments registered with the ECPTA. The

breakdown of these establishments in terms of their star rating as well as their total number is illustrated in Table

2.4.

Table 2.4: Graded accommodation establishments by type and grading

Establishment Grading Total per

TGSA

Total per

ECPTA

Bed & Breakfast 2 46 224 90 7 369 53

Caravan & Camping 2 4 5 7 1 19 1

Country House 19 21 48 1 - 89 1

Guest House 23 213 143 75 - 454 33

Hotel 3 15 39 9 2 68 15

Lodge 23 54 73 7 4 161 6

Self Catering 21 116 56 48 - 241 12

Backpackers & Hostels - 2 2 2 3 9 16

Total by grade 93 471 590 239 17 1 410 137

Source: TGCSA Database (2011), ECPTA (2011)

An assessment of the results shows that most of the accommodation facilities in the province are graded as

either three or four star. This might suggest that most accommodation facilities in the province fall into this

category. It is however more lively that the higher level accommodation facilities are more likely to obtain a

grading than low level establishments. The number of luxury accommodation (five stars) is low, with only 93 such

establishments (6.5%) registered in the Eastern Cape.

By applying the assumption that 36%4 of all accommodation establishments are graded, it can be estimated that

there are approximately 3 917 accommodation facilities in the Easter Cape. The assumption of 36% of

accommodation facilities being registered however would be different across different types of accommodation

(i.e. hotels, B&B’s etc.). This again highlights the previous assertion that a reliable, regularly up dated database

of tourism products is need in the province.

4 This is the assumption used by DEAT in calculating accommodation supply for the 2010 World Cup, 2010 Tourism Organising

Plan.


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e By comparing the 2010 numbers presented in Table 2.4 to the Eastern Cape Tourism Master Plan (2008) it is

evident that there has been a considerable increase in the number of tourism accommodation establishments in

the Eastern Cape over the last three to four years. Furthermore there has also been a market increase in the

number of establishments that are graded with the TGCSA.

In terms of grading the most marked rise has been in the number of four or five star establishments which have

increased from 172 in 2006/07 to 590 in 2010 (227.9%). The greatest growth in terms of type of accommodation

type has been in bed & breakfasts (increased from 164 in 2006/07 to 369 in 2010) and guest houses (increased

from 143 in 2006/07 to 454 in 2010). According to PWC (2011) this growth in the supply of accommodation

establishments can be attributable to two factors:

1) A significant expansion in the cons truction of accommodation facilitates by major industry players (i.e.

Sun International, Protea Hotels, City Lodge Group) during the period of economic expansion pre-2008

2) Development and construction of new accommodation establishments by private individuals in an effort

to capitalise on the FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup

Figure 2.6: Supply of accommodation in the Eastern Cape

Source: TGCSA (2011), Urban-Econ EC GIS Unit (2011)

Figure 2.6 above graphically illustrates the data in Table 2.4, in an effort to illustrate areas of accommodation

clustering (see also Figure 2.7) as well as to indicate the dominant type of accommodation facilities in each

respective district municipality. From figure 2.6 it is evident that the majority of accommodation establishments

10% 3%

53%

23%

11%

13%

7%

63%

10% 7%

12% 7%

58%

17%

5%

12% 2%

62%

12%

12%

5% 8%

59%

19%

8%

15% 4%

74%

6% 1%

10%

60%

10%

20%

Lodges Hotels B&B’s/Guest Houses Self Catering Other


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e are clustered in the Cacadu (Addo, Grahamstown, Graaff-Reinet) and Amathole District Municipalities (East

London, Wild Coast) as well as the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro. The clustering of accommodation establishments

in the identified localities is closely aligned with the existing spatial pattern of tourism attractions i n the province

and will be further elaborated on later in this section.

Although the above figure provides an indication of the location of accommodation establishments, it does not

provide a measurement of the value that these accommodation establishments provide for the regional economy.

This further highlights the need for greater research on tourism establishment in the Eastern Cape as well as

determining the average spend per night by these tourists .

2.4.2 Tourist Attractions

When assessing tourism attractions in the province it is important to consider their spatial context so as to obtain

a better understanding of the locality of existing tourism clusters relative to tourism infrastructure. Furthermore,

the spatial analysis of attractions relative to accommodation provides a perspective on areas where there is

tourism potential but limited current development. Through this assessment it becomes possible to gear potential

tourism developments to existing clusters so as to benefit from existing economies of scale.

Figure 2.7: Clustering of attractions and accommodation establishments5

Source: Adapted from ECPTA Database (2011)

5 Black circles indicate established existing clusters, while the purple circles indicate potential long growth areas. For the

purpose of demarcating a cluster the follow ing definition was used: “A geographic concentration of local tourism activities” (South African Tourism Collaborative Action Process, 1999)

Wild Coast

Aliwal North (Portal to the province)


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e The figure above provides a spatial perspective of current tourism product (both accommodation and attractions)

clustering in the Eastern Cape (see Figure 2.7). It must be noted that in some cases the dots representing tourist

accommodation and tourism attractions are placed on top of one another. This implies that there are more

tourism products in one place than the map might show.

A significant number of the existing tourist attractions throughout the province are linked to the natural

environment in some form (biodiversity, scenic beauty, wildlife etc.). In terms of the natural environment, some of

the most important assets in the Eastern Cape are the Wild Coast, Southern Drakensberg and the Great Karoo

regions. The province also has a number of state and privately owned game reserves and natural parks. Of the

17 state owned natural reserves, 13 are administered and operated by the ECPTA while the reaming four (Addo

Elephant Park, Camdeboo, Garden Route, Mountain Zebra) are operated by SANParks. Based on the spatial

distribution of both tourism activities and accommodation in Figure 2.7, siz established areas can clearly be

identified namely:

Port Elizabeth and surrounds

East London and surrounds

Port Alfred

The Port Elizabeth and surrounding area has by far the largest concentration, accounting for over 15% of all

tourist activities and accommodation in the province. The dominance of the Port Elizabeth area as a tourist

destination is attributable to a mix of factors including the areas importance as an economic centre within the

province, its infrastructure (chiefly its international airport) which promotes ease of access and the areas overall

established brand. The East London cluster exhibits a similar set of contributing factors to those of the Port

Elizabeth cluster, but also benefits from serving as a major access point to the popular Wild Coast region.

The Grahamstown, Addo, Port Alfred and Jeffrey’s Bay areas are significantly smaller accounting for a combined

total of 13.5% of all tourist accommodation and activities in the province. The majority of these areas are centred

on an iconic attraction or set of iconic attractions – Addo Elehant Park, Rhodes University, Beaches, Surfing –

which has resulted in the development of a cluster.

In addition to these established areas there are also several emerging clusters that have been identified by the

ECPTA for further development and support. Each of these areas is located around core strategic assets, which

is a provincially owned/operated park. These six nodal areas, where the development of tourism products and

attractions is being focused, are Dwesa, Hluleka, Silaka, Mkhambathi, Great Fish River, Baviaanskloof as shown

in Figure 2.7.

Beyond the number of accommodation establishments and attractions in these areas, emerging cluster selection

is based on the number of individuals that visit these respective areas6. The visitor numbers for the provincial

parks that fall within the identified emerging clusters as well as the visitor numbers for those parks operated by

SANParks is illustrated in Table 2.5.

6 The number of guests that visit the provincial parks that fall w ithin these respective clusters is used as a means of providing

an indication of the number of tourists that visit the cluster.

Grahamstown

Jeffrey’s Bay

Addo


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e Table 2.5: Visitor numbers for both provincial and nationally proclaimed parks

Cluster

Visitor Numbers7

2005 2006 % Change 2009 2010 % Change

Ea

ste

r C

ap

e P

ark

s

Dwesa - - - - - -

Hluleka 9 756 7 600 22.1 - - -

Silaka 4 586 3 962 13.6 - - -

Mkhambathi 3 770 6 807 80.5 - - -

Great Fish River 2 447 2 400 1.9 - - -

Baviaanskloof 10 382 8 889 14.3 - - -

Other 9 197 8 802 4.3 - - -

Total 40 138 38 460 4.2 - - -

SA

NP

ark

s

Addo 18 033 22 059 22.3 141 925 135 109 4.8

Camdeboo8 - - - 40 424 42 088 4.1

Mountain Zebra 4 222 4 269 1.1 16 821 22 039 31.0

Tsitsikamma 50 876 38 890 23.5 155 762 160 405 3.0

Total 73 131 65 218 10.8 354 932 359 641 1.3

Source: ECPB (2005, 2006), SANParks (2005, 2006, 2010)

As evidenced by the above table, the parks with the largest visitor numbers are those operated by SANParks.

This can be attributed to the greater resources available to SANParks when it comes to promoting parks within

the Eastern Cape. It is important to note however that over the last five years (2005 to 2010) SANParks has

successful managed to increase its visitor numbers significantly. It is therefore highly probably that thro ugh

adequate marketing and greater funding of existing provincial parks, the Eastern Cape can increase visitor

numbers in a similar manner.

There is already awareness within the province, that greater funding is required to develop these clusters.

Accordingly the ECPTA is targeting a signficiant portion of its capital budget into their targeted clusters.The

intention of this investment in clusters is to leverage existing provincial resources so as to act as a public sector

catalyst for further private sector development. In addition to the ECPTA efforts, the Eastern Cape Department of

Roads and Transport is also targeting investment on key strategic road networks particularly the Wild Coast area.

A budget of R 63 million has been projected for the 2010/11 financial year rising to R 140 million 2011/12

financial year.

7 These are the most recently available vistor numbers for Eastern Cape Parks come from the 2004/05 and 2005/06 Annual

Reports for the former ECPB Visitor numbers for the Dwesa Reserve were not indicated in either of these reports. 8 The Camdeboo National Park w as not proclaimed a national park until 2008

The aim of the commercialisation of provincial parks is twofold. Primarily it seeks to generate revenue for the

ECPTA in order to supplement the agency’s existing primary sources of income which will allow it to expand

its funding to various programmes and interventions (i.e. biodiversity conservation). Equally important

however is that the ECPTA commercialisation activities contribute to the upliftment of affected local

communities through employment creation, skills training and income generation. This second objective is to

be achieved through eco-tourism partnership agreements between the ECPTA, the private sector and

communities.

Commercialisation of Eastern Cape Parks


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e

Based on the clustering of tourism products discussed previously it is evident that many attractions and activities,

particularly environmental features, are not confined to local and district boundaries. In order to ensure that these

tourist attractions and activities are marketed in an effective manner that corresponds to regional features, the

Eastern Capes Parks Board (the precursor to the ECPTA) divided the province into nine routes.

Figure 2.8: Eastern Cape tourism regions and routes9

9 For the purpose of this map a tourist route is defined as: “A group of attractions/activities linked by a common theme

along a mobility route usually a road” (CWCI, 2007), w hile tourism regions are demarcated based on Braby’s Eastern Cape Tourist Map 8th Edition.

Source: ECPTA (2011)

The focus of the ECPTA Commercialisation Department is increasingly on partnership creation, whereby

concessionary agreements are entered into between the ECPTA and either the private sector or

communities. Partnerships with other public sector entities are also considered. These concession

agreements entails a mutually beneficial contract in which ECPTA retains ownership to the asset (be it a

provincial park, game lodge etc.) but a community or private enterprise operates the asset for a

predetermined time and for a predetermined fee. In many cases these concession agreements can be used

as an important service delivery vehicle particularly in terms of facilitating rapid infrastructure investment in

priority tourism destinations. Activities are currently underway by the ECPTA to investigate the promotion of

such concessionary agreements in areas of biodiversity protection, conservation and eco -tourism.

Commercialisation of Eastern Cape Parks (cont.)


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e The ECPTA has subsequently organised and consolidated these routes into nine clusters, each corresponding to

a single route. Each of these regional clusters, also correspond to areas with high concentrations of both tourist

attractions and accommodation. It is therefore possible for the ECPTA to market a number of complementary

products under a single unified brand liked to each cluster.

Within each of these regions the ECPTA still manages several tourist routes. These routes, much like th e

regional clusters, are intended to link complementary products along a defined mobility route. Furthermore, they

act as means of developing a tourist destination rather than a single tourist product. Critical to the success of

both regional clusters and routes is ensuring innovate product development within these areas as well as

ensuring that there is adequate infrastructure to access these locales.

Figure 2.8 illustrates both the regional clusters and routes identified by ECPTA, while the subsequent se ctions

provide a broad overview of the some of the major/iconic product offerings within each region10

.

Kouga Region

The Kouga Region is located in the South-Western most part of the province and is exclusively confined to the

Cacadu District Municipality. The main attractions in the area are sea sport activities and beach holidays. The

town of Jeffrey’s Bay and to a lesser extent Cape St. Francis are well suited for surfing and have thus allowed the

region to position itself as a premium water sport destination. As an established water sport destination Jeffrey’s

Bay been able to attract and host the South African leg of the Billabong Pro 2011 annually for the last several

years.

Destination Activities Festivals & Events Tourist Routes

Storms River Bridge

Big Tree

Jeffrey’s Bay

Watersports (surfing, suba diving,

deep-sea angling)

Shell Festival

Billabong Pro Surfing

Competition

Tsitsikamma Adventure

Route

Kouga Route

Part of the Baviaans

Route

Sunshine Coast and Sunday’s River Valley

The sunshine coast, which falls into the Cacadu and Amatole District Municipalities and a small part of the

Nelson Mandela Bay Metro, includes the establish holiday coastal towns of Port Elizabeth, East London, Kenton -

on-Sea and Port Alfred. The principle attractions in this region are the beaches and associated activities, but

there are also a number of game farms in the area such as the Shamwari Game Reserve.

Falling within the Sunshine Coast region is the Sunday’s River Valley area. The Sudays River Val ley is situated in

the Cacadu District Municipality and part of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro and is home to one of the most iconic

destinations in the Eastern Cape – the Addo Elephant National Park. Tourists visiting the area have the

opportunity to see the “Big 7” as well as engage in several nature based activities.

10

Note: The tables below the discussions on the various regions do not seek to be comprehensive list of attractions w ithin each

of the respective regions. They rather seek to identify some of the key attractions that tourists have indicated that they visit when travelling to these areas. These attractions were identif ied in the KPMG Draft Situational Analysis for ECPB (2006) and have been adapted slightly based on further research.


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e Destination Activities Festivals & Events Tourist Routes

Addo Elephant Park

Donkin Heritage Trail

Route 67

Big Pineapple at Bathurst

Van Stadens Wild Flower

Reserve

NMBM Splash Festival

Sevens Rugby Tournament

Redhouse River Mile

Ironman Marathon

Bathurst Ox Braai

Addo Rose and Garden

Festival

Sunshine Coast Route

Part of the Frontier

Country Route

Karoo Heartland

The Karoo Heartland is one of the largest tourism regions in the province, and comprises large parts of the

Cacadu and Chris Hani District Municipalities. The region has a number of historical towns rich in colonial and

Anglo-Boer history and culture including Graaff-Reinet, Middleburg and Cradock. The principal draw card in the

area however is the natural Karoo landscape, highly sought after by visiting tourists. Another one of the Eastern

Cape’s major national parks – The Mountain Zebra – is also located in this region.


Valley of Desolation

Owl House

Mountain Zebra National Park

Camdeboo National Park

Historical towns of Graaff-Reinet,

Cradock and Middelburg

San Rock paintings/art

Olive Schreiner House

Eastern Cape Biltong

Festival

ABSA Fugard Festival

Karoo Heartland

Mohair Meander

Part of the Baviaans

Route

Frontier Country

This tourism area focuses on the urban centre of Grahamstown with its university, cultural and historical

traditions. Grahamstown also plays host to the annual National Arts Festival, which attracts a significant number

of both domestic and foreign tourists to the province. The region is also historically significant due to large

number of frontier wars fought between the Xhosa Nation and British Settlers.


Historical town of Grahamstown

1820 Settlers National Monument

Cathedral of St. Michael & St.

George

International Library of African

Music

Shamwari Private Game Reserve

Great Fish River Nature Reserve

Bushman Sands

National Arts Festival

Sci-Fest

National Schools Festival

Frontier Country Route


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e Amathola Mountain Escape

The Amathola Mountain Escape Region falls into Amathole as well as the Chris Hani. This area is recognised for

its natural beauty and has a number of tourism products linked to eco and nature based tourism. The area also

has rich local traditions and cultural offerings centred in and around the town of Hogsback – the main town in this

region.


Scenic towns of Hogsback and Bedford

Mpofu Nature Reserve

Natural environmental activities

(e.g. hiking)

Bedford Garden

Show

Winter in July

(Hogsback)

Small part of the Friendly

N6 passes through the

region

Friendly N6

The Friendly N6 and Drakensberg Region are home to two of both South Africa’s and the Eastern Capes iconic

attractions – the Gariep Dam (the largest dam in South Africa) and Tiffindell (the only ski Resort in South Africa).

Other attractions in the region are linked to sporting activities (skiing, fishing and other water sports) and cultural

attractions such as rock paintings.


Gariep Dam

Tiffendel Ski Resort

Holo Hlahatsi Dam

Aliwal Hot Springs

Anglo-Boer War Battlefields

Salmon Sky Run

Lady Grey Passion

Play

Bell's Whisky Wild

Trout Festival

Friendly N6

Maloti Route

Wild Coast

This tourism region comprises the coastal area between the Wild Coast Sun Casino on the border with KwaZulu -

Natal to the area just east of East London, meaning that this area falls within the O.R. Tambo and Amatole

District Municipalities. This area is recognised nationally for its natural landscape, rural environment, beaches

and political history – particularly around Mthatha.


Hole in the Wall

Nelson Mandela’s Birth Place

Dwesa, Hluleka, Silaka and

Mkhambathi Nature Reserves

Nelson Mandela Museum in Mthatha

Scenic environmental beauty

Jikeleza Wet and

Wild Wild Coast Route


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e Tsitsikamma Adventures

The Ttisikama region of the Eastern Cape forms part of the larger Garden Route which has its origins in the

Western Cape. The area which encompasses the Kou-Kamma Local Municipality and the town of Stormsriver

Village is internationally recognised for its natural environment, particularly its sections of indigenous forests.


Black water tubing

Tsitsikamma National Park

Hiking trails

Canopy Tours

Bloukrans Bungy

Natural enviroment

None identified Tsitsikamma Route

2.4.3 Infrastructure

The transport system as well as the broader infrastructure network in the province plays a pivotal and supportive

role for the tourism industry as it is through this network that tourists are able access both tourism products and

attractions.

Currently the Eastern Cape has one international airport (Port Elizabeth), two major airports (East London and

Mthatha) and number of smaller airstips located in over 50 different smaller towns in the Eastern Cape. Several

of these airstrips are utilised by light aircraft, with a number of them also offering charter services. This presents

an opportunity for tourists to access some of the smaller towns in the province not serviced by the major South

African carriers.

Although the Port Elizabeth Airport is classified as an international airport by ACSA it currently does not receive

any in-bound or out-bound international flights. This means that foreign tourists have to use additional modes of

transport (flights, busses etc.) in and above their original entry flight if they wish to visit the Eastern Cape. This

additional travel, particularly the associated costs, acts as a direct limiting factor when it comes to the provin ces

ability to maintain and attract a greater number of foreign tourists. The Port Elizabeth Airport has furthermore

already shown that it is capable of handling international passenger fights as exhibited by such operations during

the FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup. Accordingly if the Eastern Cape wishes to attract an increased share of foreign

tourist arrivals it is imperative that Port Elizabeth Airport attracts a greater number of direct international flights

The current domestic flight schedule between South African international airports and the major airports in the

Eastern Cape is illustrated in Table 2.6. It is evident from the table that South African Airways (SAA) flies from all

international airports to most of the provincial cities, with the exception of the Cape Town-Mthatha and the

Durban-Mthatha routes. The Mthatha airport is also evidently the most underutilised with flights to the city only

being available from Port Elizabeth and only through SAA.

According to a review of the major airline flight schedules there are a total of 40 flights a day from the O.R Tambo

(15), Cape Town (15) and King Shaka (10) airports to destinations in the Eastern Cape. The most popular routes,

as indicated by the frequency of daily flights by all airlines, are the Cape Town-Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg-

Port Elizabeth routes with 11 flights daily.

On closer analysis however there are certain routes, most notably those to Mthatha, that are fairly infrequent and

that therefore limit the ability of potential visitors to access the province. The evidence from the table also shows


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e that there is potential for other airlines to utilise existing provincial routes and airports, should there be a n

adequate demand.

Figure 2.9: Eastern Cape transport network

Source: Urban-Econ EC GIS Unit (2011)

In comparison to 2007, the number of flights by South African airlines to different destinations within the province

has decreased from 20 to 17. This is exclusively attributable to the closure of Nationwide, a low cost airline one of

whose routes were between South Africans international airports and Port Elizabeth. Further analysis of the

period between 2007 and 2010 indicates that British Airways (BA) expanded its flights to the province to include

the Cape Town-Port Elizabeth and Durban-Port Elizabeth routes. SAA and 1Time on the other hand have

dropped their Cape Town-Mthatha and Durban-East London flights respectively.

All of the major South African bus companies (Intercape, Greyhound, Translux, SA Roadlink, Baz Bus)

incorporate Eastern Cape town’s into their national routes. There are also a number of provincially operated bus

companies that cater exclusively for the Eastern Cape market. These companies are however generally small,

comprising on average one to three busses, and cater for specific regions within the province most prominently

the former Transkei areas. In addition to these bus companies there are an estimated 43 tour operators operating

in and around the Eastern Cape (ECPTA, 2011). These companies play a complementary role to the established

transport network in the province by transporting both domestic and foreign tourists directly to tourist attractions

and destinations.


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e Table 2.6: Airlines flying to Eastern Cape Airports

11

Airline

SAA Kulula 1Time BA (Comair)

Fro

m J

oh

ann

esbu

rg to

:

Port Elizabeth

East London

Mthatha

Fro

m C

ap

e T

ow

n to:

Port Elizabeth

East London

Mthatha

Fro

m D

urb

an

to

:

Port Elizabeth

East London

Mthatha

Source: Urban-Econ EC (2011)

The passenger train network in the province is limited. While there are a number of Shosholoza Meyl

(Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth; Johannesburg and East London; Cape Town and East London) and Metrorail

routes (East London and Port Elizabeth) the bulk the passengers utilising these routes are domestic tourists who

are travelling to visit friends/family or who are travelling for leisure purposes. In addition to these rail networks the

Eastern Cape also has a number of unique rail routes (i.e. Apple Express, Kei Rail and Barkly East-Aliwal North

line) which have either been closed or are in the process of closing. These lines all create unique selling points

for their respective regions and, with adequate funding and marketing, have the potential to attract a greater

number of both domestic and international tourists to the province.

Busses and trains in the province are generally limited to the main routes, whereas the taxi system provides

transport services throughout the Eastern Cape. This network however is viewed unsuitable for international

tourists due to its lack of regular time tables, routes and concerns about safety. This network however is still

responsible for transporting a significant number of domestic tourists in and around the Eastern Cape.

2.4.4 Support Services

Support services typically include services such as retail, banks, emergency services, medical services, tourism

information centres and tour guides.

11

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Tourism Information Offices

Based on desktop research approximately 25 local tourism organisations (LTO) were identified throughout the

Eastern Cape. The resources available to these LTO’s vary greatly, and accordingly only some of them been

able to establish tourism information offices within their areas.

The limited resources of these LTO’s however are completed by those of the Eastern Cape district municipalities.

All but the Alfred Nzo District Municipality has a municipally operated tourism office where visitors can access

information about a given area.

Tour Guides

The ECPTA has approximately 494 tour guides12

registered on their database for the Eastern Cape.

Approximately 83.2% of these guides are domicile in the Eastern Cape, with the reaming being based either

nationally or in the Western Cape. Although it is not possible to establish the geographic spread of these guides

based on the available database, the low number suggests that the Eastern Cape is not adequately serviced.

Furthermore most of these tour guides are generally situated in urban centres increasing the urban -rural disparity

in the tourism industry. The need to increase the number and quality of Eastern Cape tour guides is imperative to

ensure the continued growth of the tourism industry in the province.

Other Support Services

Auxiliary support services such as retail centres, motor vehicle refuelling, emergency repairs, medical

emergencies and police services are mostly found within the major urban areas of the Eastern Cape, such as

Port Elizabeth, East London, Mthatha and Queenstown. Smaller urban centres (i.e. Graaff-Reinet, Cradock,

Grahamstown, Port Alfred etc.) generally also have access to these services to a greater or lesser degree.

Stakeholder engagements with tourism product owners indicated that there was a lack of supporting services,

especially regarding emergency services throughout the province. Some of the respondents indicated that the

police stations within the areas where inadequate and in some areas there was an indication of high crime rates.

2.5 SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is an important tool for the identification of potential within a sector or industry. The intention of

the analysis process is to identify Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats that could impact the sector

wither positively or negatively. The following section seeks to conduct a SWOT analysis for the Eastern Cape

Tourism Industry.

Strengths

Unspoilt natural environment

The Eastern Cape has large tracts of natural land, as well as a long coastal area that has proved to

highly attractive to both domestic and foreign tourists.

High number of National Parks, Reserve and Game Parks

There are approximately 162 such protected sites in the Eastern Cape excluding privately owned and

run game reserves. In addition to the plant and wildlife diversity that these areas bring to the province,

they also provide a potential draw card; particularly for international tourist’s Game hunting can also

be explored in some of the privately operated reserves.

Malaria Free

The Eastern Cape benefits from having good all year-round weather. Furthermore the various climatic

conditions also prevent the development of Malaria. The fact that the Eastern Cape is a Malaria free

12

This equates to one tourist guide for every 718.5 foreign tourists


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e zone has a strong impact on the areas ability to attract international tourists away from Malaria zones

such as the Kruger Park.

Variety of Tourism attractions

Within the province there are a number of attractions to satisfy a diverse set of tourist interests. The

Eastern Cape has activities and attractions that cater for eco, adventure, beach, nature, MICE, sport,

special event, education and religious tourists.

Iconic Features

The Wild Coast, Tiffindell Ski Resort, Nelson Mandela’s Birthplace are just a few of the attractions in

the Eastern Cape that cannot be found anywhere else in South Africa.

Located between two major tourism areas

The Eastern Cape is situated between the established tourist destinations of KwaZulu -Natal and the

Western Cape. In many cases tourists pass through the Eastern Cape to reach destinations within

these provinces. These tourists can potentially be attracted to products within the Eastern Cape as

they pass through the province.

Country Representatives

The ECPTA has appointed country representatives for the United States of America, United Kingdom,

Netherlands and Germany i.e. the major source markets for the Eastern Cape’s international tourists.

The efforts of these representatives will help encourage greater numbers of tourists from these

destinations

Provincial Tourism Forum

This forum is currently operational and can be used as platform for both the public and private sector

to address issues pertinent to the Eastern Cape tourism industry. The forum will further serve as a

means of presenting successful projects to all stakeholders.

Weaknesses

Low number of tourists both domestic and international

The Eastern Cape captures one of the lowest shares of international tourists. This figure has also

been declining. The province, while still one of the largest destinations for domestic tourists has seen

domestic tourism numbers decline over the last three years, leading to Gauteng surpassing it as the

second most visited province for domestic tourists.

Spatial Inequality in terms of Visits

More established destinations in the Eastern Cape i.e. Port Elizabeth, East London, attract a

disproportionally higher number of tourists than more rural areas such as the Joe Gqabi, Chirs Hani

and Alfred Nzo District Municipality’s.

Poor Transport Infrastructure

Infrastructure especially roads along the Wild Coast is very poor. This means that a number of the

tourist establishments and attractions in and around the area cannot be easily accessed by tourists.

Basic infrastructure, such as water and electricity, is also weak in the rural area. This, as with the lack

of quality roads, can discourage tourists from visiting rural areas which have the most opportunity in

terms of tourism.

Poor signage infrastructure

Both general route and tourism signage in the province are considered to be inadequate. Although

considerable efforts have been made by the ECPTA in erecting new signage, the backlog remains

significant.

Uncoordinated tourism approach

Tourism activities in the Eastern Cape involve a number of different role-players, many of whom have

little interaction with one another. This lack of interaction means that these role -players frequently

pursue opposite or conflicting objectives that potentially adversely affect other activities. The lack of

awareness about what other tourism role-players are doing also frequently leads to the duplication of

activities and wasted resources.


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e Inadequate definition of roles and responsibilities for tourism role-players

Without clear and open channels of communication, and clearly defined roles and responsibilities

between local authorities the likelihood of duplication is radically increased. The lack of defined roles

between local municipalities and LTO is also important as it has the potential to lead to open conflict

between these two role-player’s.

Funding constraints at local level

Most DTO’s and LTO’s suffer from chronic funding constraints. The lack of tourism product owners in

certain areas also means that they have difficulty in generating their own funds though membership

fees. As a result the ability of DTO’s and LTO’s to promote product owners in the area, and market the

area is negatively impacted.

Limited number of Graded Establishments

Even though the number of graded establishments in the province increased between 2008 and 2011,

there are still a significant number of facilitates that are not graded. This lack of graded establishments

can negatively impact consumer confidence in the province.

Fragmented provincial protected areas

The existing protected area network comprises small parcels of land across large geographic areas.

Furthermore, the small size of provincial nature reserve means that protected area corridors, covering

biodiversity sensitive areas, cannot be created. This also negatively impacts on the provinces ability to

meet its NPAES targets.

Long-haul destination for international flights

Although the Port Elizabeth Airport is classified as an international airport, it does not receive direct

flights from overseas. This makes the Eastern Cape a long-haul destination, as tourists have to utilise

connecting flights to reach the province.

Opportunities

Significant potential to develop previously undeveloped tourism products

A number of tourism products, especially in rural area, remain un(der)developed. These products are

linked mainly to cultural heritage. There is an opportunity to capita lise on these products and leverage

them for the development of rural areas.

Potential to develop iconic attractions

Nelson Mandela’s home in Qunu, as well as the birthplaces of several other struggle heroes remain

undeveloped and are not attracting large number of tourists. These sites have significant potential

particularly for the international tourist market.

Development of tourism through linkages with other sectors

The nature of the tourism industry means that it has established forward and backward linkages with

the transport, retail and wholesale trade and financial services sectors. Strengthening and enhancing

these linkages can have positive impacts on the development of both the tourism and its related

sectors.

Reintroduction of Hunting

The expansion of controlled hunting within selected provincial parks has the potential to generate

foreign exchange revenue for ECPTA as well as ensure appropriate levels of game off-take. This

revenue can then be channelled into further tourism development.

Stewardship Programmes

There is support from the National Department of Environmental Affairs through its stewardship

programmes to assist the Eastern Cape in securing Critical Biodiversity Areas in order to reach the

provinces NPAES target.

New Tourist Markets

Switzerland, China, India, Brazil and Spain have been identified as long term growth markets for

international tourist arrivals. Increased arrivals from these destinations will further promote the

expansion and development of the provincial tourism indus try.


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e Commercialisation of provincial parks

Commercialisation activities can be expanded to additional parks within the province. Again this would

assist in generating additional revenue to fund both tourism development but more importantly,

conservation efforts.

Carbon Sequestration

Given the existing biodiversity and other natural assets within in the Eastern Cape, particularly in

provincially owned parks, there is potential to develop a carbon trading scheme utilising existing

carbon sequestered in these areas.

Tourism University

Current tourism skills’ training within South Africa is not considered to be comparable with those

countries that compete with South Africa for international tourists. There is therefore the potential to

establish a tourism university in the province that could provide a comprehensive training programme,

in a degree or diploma format, to address this issue.

Threats

Crime levels

Crime levels threaten the tourism industry as it makes visiting tourists (especially international tourists)

feel unsafe. The result of this is that they are less likely to visit a destination that they perceive to be

unsafe.

Fragmented tourism intervention planning

Inadequate collaboration and coordination between role-players threatens the effectiveness of the

implementation of tourism interventions and projects. Without coordinated effort from all tourism role-

players it is unlikely that planned tourism interventions will be successful. This could also potentially

lead to duplication of activities and the waste of scarce economic resources

Increase exploitation of natural resources

The ongoing exploitation of natural resources threatens the sustainability of tourism products that

depend on the natural resources such as eco-tourism.

Potential over supply of nature based tourism products

The rapid expansion of tourism products linked to the natural environment along the Wild Coast and

Tsitsikamma regions has the potential to threaten the viability of existing tourism products in the area

as small scale and emerging nature based product owners are forced out of the market through

greater competition.

Lack of institutional mechanism for ecosystem services

While there is considerable potential for the utilisation of ecosystem services as a vehicle for poverty

reduction, there is presently no enabling framework to facilitate this process.

Destination Management

There no destination management system in place that can guide both cluster and route interventions.

Furthermore there is also a lack of synergy between destination products which could result in

ineffective regional initiatives.

Land claims

There are a number of existing land claims in and around both provincial parks as well as

environmentally sensitive areas. Failure to address these land claim issues has the potential to

negatively impact the expansion of protected areas. It could also threaten the success of future CPPP,

PPP and concessionary agreements.

Wild Coast Mining

Strip mining operations proposed for the Wild Coast could potentially have negative effects on the

environmentally sensitive Pondoland Centre of Endemism. The mining operations could also

adversely impact the number of domestic and international tourists that the area can attract.

Low rates of Transformation in the tourism industry

The slow rate of transformation within the industry can have a negative impact on the perceptions of


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e citizens. This has the potential to manifest as resistance to tourism structures and interventions.

2.6 Synthesis

This section sought to profile the nature, performance and key attributes of the Eastern Cape tourism industry.

Tourism is identified in several strategic planning documents as a key sector in the provincial economy, and as

such this section has brought out information relating to the:

Defining characteristics that apply to the provinces supply of tourism offerings

Attributes that may be assigned to the demand for the area’s tourism products and services

In the context of the broader competitiveness report, some of the outcomes of this chapter have included

analysis of the local tourism industry’s supply of and demand

Identification of potential growth routes for the industry, such as through product

development, and improved linkages in marketing

The Eastern Cape’s tourism industry is under-developed in comparison to other provinces such as

the Western Cape

The tourism industry is dominated by domestic tourists whose numbers have declined over the last

several years

A diverse number of accommodation types are available in the province with B&B and self catering

establishments being the dominant type

Variety of graded establishments exist however a large number of establishments are not graded at

all

Few tourism service and activity operators in the area with most activities being informally organised,

or organised through Port Elizabeth and East London

Domestic tourists come mainly from: Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape

The Eastern Cape attracted 3.3 million international bednights in 2010, a 0.7% decline from 2009

Main markets are business tourists, transient visitors, budget travellers, eco-tourists and adventure

tourists

There are a number of historical and culturally significant attractions in the province

The are several iconic attractions in the Eastern Cape including: the Gariep Dam, Tiffindell Ski

Resort, Addo Elephant Park and the Wild Coast

The area is also not well marketed on Eastern Cape tourism websites

tourism sector profile

Documents

tourism industry profile

formal definition of

provincial industry

provincial tourism master

service industry

economic sectors

economic growth

distinctive economic