Place Marketing, Tourism Promotion, and Community based Local Economic Development in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Abstract

Local economic development(LED) is a common community-based development response to changes in the economic fortunes of a locality. Various economic strategies are associated with LED, some of the most prominent being those of place marketing and attempts to refocus economic activity along new or previously underused avenues, with tourism promotion being an increasingly common option. The authors examine the responses of the small community of Still Bay in Western Cape Province, South Africa, to economic crisis and the absence of vital social facilities. Critical to the success and sustainability of this LED initiative was the establishment of various community development projects, in which certain key actors took a leading role in bringing the community together. Community cooperation, linked with successful place marketing and tourism promotion strategies, has laid the basis for the economic revival of the town and empowerment of historically disadvantaged groups.