Rural (Small Town) Tourism-Led Gentrification

Abstract

South Africa is experiencing an increase in second-home ownership, the gentrification of small towns and their development as tourist destinations. The investigation presented in this chapter, with particular reference to the historic small town of Greyton in Western Cape Province, is one of very few pieces of research into the geographical aspects of these trends. The findings of a survey conducted among urban–rural migrant entrepreneurs are described here with particular reference to the economic reordering of property values, socio-demographic changes, place preference and the economic impact of gentrifiers. It was found that the accumulation of wealth in Greyton is based on an economic triad of gentrification, tourism and retirement. Over the last decade and a half, the tourism and hospitality industries have dramatically impacted on the way the town marries financial and social capital. The lone gentrifier has been replaced by tourism entrepreneur gentrifiers, second-home owners and a younger group settling with families as evidenced by the nature of the financial investment in the town and residents’ engagement in social, economic, developmental, environmental and heritage endeavours.