What makes South Africa competitive from a tourist’s point of view?

Abstract

ABSTRACT Tourism and destination competitiveness is a popular research topic and has become more important in recent years. This is evident from the amount of research conducted on the topic. However, competitiveness is mainly researched from a supply perspective, which solely captures the opinions of tourism experts and consequently creates the need to obtain the opinions of tourists as well. This paper provides an enhanced understanding of the opinions foreign tourists visiting South Africa have of the competitiveness of the country as tourist destination. Data was obtained by distributing questionnaires to tourists at OR Tambo International Airport who were returning home after visiting South Africa. A total of 619 usable questionnaires were obtained. The findings revealed that (1) The factors identified in this study differ from similar supply-side studies on South Africa; (2) Respondents considered unique tourism aspects the most important element of competitiveness; (3) The second most important competitiveness factor, tourism services, consists of internal factors only; (4) Safety and security is an essential competitiveness aspect regardless of the destination or research approach used.