The Boutique Hotel Industry in South Africa: Definition, Scope, and Organization

Abstract

South Africa’s hotel industry has attracted only limited academic writings. This paper focuses on the emergence and development of boutique hotels. In common with the international tourism economy, the contemporary hotel industry of South Africa is experiencing increased differentiation of new product offerings. The boutique hotel represents a new element within the South African hotel sector. Developers of boutique hotels have sought to distinguish this new tourism product in terms of its experiential qualities with strong emphasis placed upon the production of high levels of design, ambience, and offerings of personalized service. Mainly patronized by European tourists, the spatial pattern of these small hotel properties is distinctive with Cape Town, the major focus for their development. Key issues facing boutique hotels relate to the lack of recognition by the national grading authority of their distinctive experiential qualities.