South Africa Sustainable hospitality management

South Africa Sustainable Hospitality Management

South Africa Sustainable Hospitality Management

Introduction

South Africa tourism and hospitality sector has reached new heights today. Travellers are taking new interests in the country which leads to the upgrading of the hospitality sector. Even an increase in business travel has driven the hospitality sector to serve their guests better. Visiting foreigners has reached a record 3.92 million and consequently International tourism receipts have also reached a height of US$ 5.7 billion. Hospitality Industry is closely linked with travel and tourism industries. South Africa is experiencing huge footfalls as a favorite vacation destination of foreigners and natives and the hospitality industry is going into a tizzy working towards improving itself. Fierce competition and fight to rank on the number one position is leading the leaders of this industry to contemplate on ideas and innovate successful hospitality products and services every day.

Analysis

It is boom time for South Africa's Tourism and Hospitality sector. Driven by a surge in business traveller arrivals and a soaring interest in the country, South Africa has emerged as a leading tourist destination. The world's leading travel and tourism journal, “Conde Nast Traveller”, ranked South Africa amongst top 4 preferred holiday destinations in the world (Brownell, 2005

, pp.7-21).

Even Tier-II cities like Jaipur, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Pune, and Bangalore are seeing growth both in occupancy and room rates. While occupancy is around 75-80%, room rates are up by 15-20% in these markets. The importance of tourism for the South Africa economy is evident from the fact that it contributed to 5.9% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provided employment to 41.8 million people (Teare et al, 2000, pp.97-106).

South Africa's tourism and hospitality industry has emerged as one of the key sectors driving the country's economy. South Africa's tourism is thriving, owing to a huge surge in both business and leisure travel by foreign and domestic tourists. According to the latest Tourism Satellite Accounting (TSA) research released by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and its strategic partner Accenture, South Africa's travel and tourism industry is expected to generate approximately US$ 100 billion in 2008, growing at 7.3% and rising to US$ 275.5 billion by 2018 over the next ten years (Brownell, 2001, pp.124-45).

The rapid growth of South Africa's tourism industry has been instrumental in South Africa being the preferred tourist destination as noted by the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Foreign tourist arrival rose to 3.46 million to an estimated 5 million in 2007. Domestic tourists too have grown from 366.23 million in 2004 to 462 million in 2006.

Consequently, foreign exchange earnings from tourism in South Africa rose from US$ 3 billion in 2002 to an estimated 11.96 billion in 2007. A recent research by the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and Australian School of Business (ASB) forecast South Africa and China as the new global players competing for a huge chunk of tourists, transforming the geopolitical landscape. Further, tourism is an important industry in South Africa economy expected ...