A comparative analysis of responses to the COVID-19 tourism disruptions among small, medium and micro enterprises in coastal locations: Case studies of Cape Town and Durban, South Africa

Abstract

ABSTRACT Tourism businesses at coastal locations contribute to job creation and local economic development. There is limited research on COVID-19 and Coastal and Marine Tourism (CMT) Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) that adopts a comparative approach. The stakeholder theory and diffusion theory frame the research. In total, 446 surveys were conducted with SMMEs at purposively selected coastal tourism locations in Cape Town (219) and Durban (227), key CMT destinations in South Africa, enabling a comparative analysis to be undertaken using descriptive (frequency and percentages) and inferential (chi-squared tests) statistics. The primary findings indicate significant differences in the profiles and COVID-19 responses of SMMEs, with Cape Town SMMEs adopting more strategies. SMMEs adopted diverse tools and measures to deal with the pandemic. The study recommends that interventions need to consider locality-specific aspects and funding and training should be provided to better position tourism SMMEs to be resilient in a world where disruptions are likely to be experienced more regularly.