sustainable tourism implementation for small accommodation establishments in south africa

346 Pages·2017·6.23 MB·English

by  Niki Glen

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM IMPLEMENTATION
FOR SMALL ACCOMMODATION ESTABLISHMENTS
IN SOUTH AFRICA

by

NICOLETTE GLEN

submitted in accordance with the requirements
for the specified degree, of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

in the subject

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

at the

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA

SUPERVISOR: PROF KEVIN MEARNS
FEBRUARY 2017

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Abstract
Tourism is viewed as an important industry to help local economies overcome poverty and low rates
of employment. The economic benefits of a growing tourism industry cannot be disputed in a South
Africa where unemployment levels remain above international averages. However, whether South
Africa is successfully exploiting opportunities to grow the industry sustainably remains questionable.
Many attempts have been made to help the industry implement sustainable tourism practices,
especially amongst accommodation establishments. However, policies formulated, initiatives
designed and current industry norms and standards make very little distinction between various sizes
and categories of establishments. As a result, smaller establishments are lumped together with larger
establishments and solutions developed do not address the unique needs of this sector. This study
introduces the concept of a smaller accommodation establishment (SAE). While the adoption of
sustainable tourism practices within tourism remains unsatisfactory, this study focuses on illustrating
the importance of the SAE sector specifically within the tourism sector. It proposes that SAEs are
defined and categorised in a format that will allow for greater comparisons in performance – both in
relation to each other and in relation to their larger counterparts. This will also allow for the collection
of more meaningful data towards establishing baselines and benchmarks.

Through a detailed literature review, this study investigates reasons why the adoption of sustainable
tourism practices has been lower than desired by SAEs. The research first and foremost focuses on
how to define sustainable tourism and responsible tourism and how to define an SAE so as to create
a context for the remainder of the research. The literature review used the Porter’s Five Forces model
to analyse the relative sustainability of the sector, and proposed the main barriers to implementation
of sustainable tourism practices amongst SAEs. It then set out to answer the question: "What
framework and mechanisms could be used to help SAEs overcome the barriers to implementing
sustainable tourism, thus enabling sustainable growth and development of SAEs as a sub-sector of
the tourism industry?"

In answering the above question, the study used the Delphi method of reaching consensus to test
the views industry experts in relation to the definition and categorisation of SAEs, the size of the
sector, the relative importance of the sector in the overall South African economy as well as the
potential barriers to SAEs implementing sustainable tourism practices. The study then tested these
findings through a broad industry survey that collected qualitative and quantitative data from SAE
owners and managers across South Africa. The findings of the broad industry survey confirmed the
findings of the literature review and industry expert questionnaires. It added additional data that
provided perspectives on the uptake of sustainable tourism practices amongst SAEs and helped to
set some baselines for the SAE sector. It also added additional dimensions to be considered in the
development of the framework. Finally, the research utilised focus groups and individual interviews
with SAE owners and managers to determine the validity of the findings from the previous sections.

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From the inputs of the literature review and the three data collection phases, this research develops
a comprehensive framework for the implementation of sustainable tourism practices amongst SAEs.
The framework is a flexible, adaptable and scalable tool that assists in communicating a specific
approach that could be utilised by many role players in the SAE sustainable tourism implementation
arena, including the SAE owners, public sector entities, private sector business, industry
professionals and community members. The essence of the proposed framework is to support the
implementation of sustainable tourism practise amongst SAEs, thus enhancing the overall
sustainability of the smaller accommodation sector while also addressing the sustainability of the
cluster. The framework includes recommendations on how SAEs should be defined and categorised,
as well as how sustainable tourism should be defined.

The use of the proposed framework helps to draw the attention of sustainability efforts to clusters of
SAEs rather than individual businesses and adds to local competitiveness through engaging the
supply chains of accommodation establishments. Combining mechanisms such as incentives and
change processes, route development and policy formulation guides the framework to provide
collaborative holistic approaches to overcoming the barriers of sustainable tourism practices. The
framework also recommends holistic indicators of success that do not only represent the performance
of individual businesses, but also of business clusters, the tourism sector and the impacted
communities. Within clusters, greater cohesion amongst role players will provide greater negotiation
power in various aspects such as cost reduction and more favourable policy formulation processes
which involves a greater base of role players. Through the adoption of guiding questions within the
framework, each of the role players is able to take responsibility their actions and decisions.

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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank a number of individuals who contributed in one way or the other towards the
preparation and completion of this thesis.

Firstly, thank you to Caroline Ungersbock, the co-founder of the Sustainable Tourism Partnership
Programme (STTP). Caroline encouraged me to take the first steps towards doing this research.

Secondly, thank you to my supervisor, Professor Kevin Mearns. Prof Mearns guided and encouraged
me unreservedly, and provided me with many opportunities to share ideas and test concepts. His in-
depth understanding of the topic and the many challenges that the tourism industry faces were
invaluable in providing me with direction and focus.

Thirdly, I would like to thank Gordon Brown from Alive2Green, who gave me the opportunity to run
parallel research for the Responsible and Sustainable Tourism Handbooks of Southern & East Africa.
This process provided many avenues to do research for this study and to gain insights into the tourism
industry and its sustainability.

Fourthly, I would like to thank Laura Schenk, who dedicated herself to assisting me with critical editing
of this work.

Lastly, I would like to thank all my friends, colleagues and business associates for encouraging me,
supporting me, and helping me with data and information where they could. Most of all, I would like to
thank my husband, Stuart Glen for his patience, assistance and encouragement in making the
completion of this thesis a reality.
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Declaration
I, Nicolette Glen, herewith declare that this research, titled “Sustainable tourism implementation for
small accommodation establishments in South Africa”, was conducted within South Africa and was
supervised by Professor Kevin Mearns of the University of South Africa (UNISA). I further declare that
the content of this thesis, including definition, design and execution, is my own work and has not
previously been submitted in part or as a whole to any other university or academic institution or
examination towards any qualification. All reference material contained in this thesis has been duly
acknowledged and cited.

________________________ 4 February 2017
Signature Date

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Dedication
This thesis is dedicated to my husband Stuart Glen and my two beautiful children, Julia and Robbie,
who so patiently supported me throughout.

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Table of contents
Abstract ....................................................................................................................................................ii
Declaration .............................................................................................................................................. v
Dedication ...............................................................................................................................................vi
Table of contents .................................................................................................................................... vii
List of figures .......................................................................................................................................... xii
List of tables .......................................................................................................................................... xiv
Glossary of abbreviations / acronyms ................................................................................................... xvi
Chapter 1. Background, research question, research aim and research objectives .......................... 1
1.1 Background .................................................................................................................................. 1
1.2 Research problem ...................................................................................................................... 11
1.3 Research question ..................................................................................................................... 11
1.4 Research aim and objectives ..................................................................................................... 11
1.5 Research process and chapter breakdown................................................................................ 13
Chapter 2. Literature review: Investigation of the sustainable tourism industry ............................... 14
2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 14
2.2 Conceptual framework ............................................................................................................... 15
2.3 Definitions of responsible tourism and sustainable tourism ....................................................... 18
2.3.1 Sustainable tourism ............................................................................................................ 18
2.3.2 Responsible tourism ........................................................................................................... 22
2.3.3 Responsible tourism definition vs sustainable tourism definition ........................................ 23
2.4 Definition and categorisation of SAEs ........................................................................................ 27
2.5 The role of smaller accommodation in the tourism sector ......................................................... 32
2.6 Industry sustainability analysis – Porter’s Five Forces Model.................................................... 35
2.6.1 The threat of new entrants / barriers to entry ...................................................................... 36
2.6.2 The threat of substitutes ..................................................................................................... 47
2.6.3 The bargaining power of suppliers ...................................................................................... 48
2.6.4 The bargaining power of buyers ......................................................................................... 54
2.6.5. The intensity of rivalry amongst competitors ...................................................................... 57
2.6.6 Conclusion on Porter’s Five Forces Model ......................................................................... 58
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2.7 Barriers to the implementation of sustainable tourism practices ............................................... 60
2.7.1 Lack of appropriate policies ................................................................................................ 61
2.7.2 Lack of collaboration amongst tourism stakeholders .......................................................... 63
2.7.3 Lack of awareness of sustainable / responsible tourism .................................................... 67
2.7.4 Lack of data and information availability ............................................................................. 68
2.7.5 Lack of triple bottom line focus ........................................................................................... 69
2.7.6 Lack of capacity to implement sustainable tourism practices ............................................. 71
2.7.7 Lack of clear business case for sustainable tourism implementation ................................. 72
2.8 Approaches to overcome the barriers to sustainable tourism implementation .......................... 75
2.8.1 The UNESCO World Heritage Sustainable Tourism Toolkit framework ............................. 76
2.8.2 Incentives and change processes....................................................................................... 77
2.8.3 Creative outposts ................................................................................................................ 78
2.8.4 Sustainable tourism certification / SANS 1162:2011 .......................................................... 79
2.8.5 Inclusive business in tourism and inclusive tourism ........................................................... 81
2.8.6 Route development and clustering ..................................................................................... 86
2.8.7 The ILO SCORE programme .............................................................................................. 87
2.8.8 WTO Indicators of Sustainable Development in Tourism Destinations .............................. 88
2.8.9 Policy implementation guides ............................................................................................. 90
2.8.10 Summary of frameworks for overcoming barriers ............................................................... 92
2.9 Summary of the literature review ............................................................................................... 95
Chapter 3. Research design, research methodology ........................................................................ 97
and target population ............................................................................................................................ 97
3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 97
3.2 Research design and methodology ............................................................................................ 97
3.3 Detailed literature review .......................................................................................................... 101
3.4 Industry expert questionnaires ................................................................................................. 102
3.4.1 Definition and categorisation of SAEs .............................................................................. 105
3.4.2 Estimation of the size of the sector ................................................................................... 106
3.4.3 Responsible and sustainable tourism policy formulation and implementation ................. 106
3.4.4 Indicators of sustainable tourism implementation ............................................................. 107
3.4.5 Business case for sustainable tourism implementation .................................................... 107
3.4.6 Specific barriers to sustainable tourism implementation................................................... 108
3.4.7 Expert opinions – how to overcome barriers .................................................................... 108
3.5 Broad industry survey............................................................................................................... 109
3.5.1 Broad industry survey participants – context and sample size ......................................... 110
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3.5.2 Definition of and categoriation of an SAE ......................................................................... 113
3.5.3 Awareness of responsible and sustainable tourism ......................................................... 114
3.5.4 Number of measures implemented ................................................................................... 114
3.5.5 Barriers to running sustainable tourism businesses ......................................................... 115
3.5.6 Conclusion on broad industry survey ................................................................................ 117
3.6 Focus groups and personal interviews..................................................................................... 117
3.6.1 Inventory of participants .................................................................................................... 118
3.6.2 Questionnaire structure ..................................................................................................... 119
3.7 Research findings and framework development ...................................................................... 119
3.8 Significance of the research ..................................................................................................... 120
3.9 Summary of design, research methodology and target population selection .......................... 121
Chapter 4. Industry experts’ questionnaire findings ........................................................................ 122
4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 122
4.2 Findings .................................................................................................................................... 122
4.2.1 Definition and categories of SAEs .................................................................................... 122
4.2.2 Estimation of the size of the sector ................................................................................... 125
4.2.3 Responsible tourism policy formulation and implementation ............................................ 129
4.2.4 Indicators of responsible tourism implementation ............................................................. 131
4.2.5 Business case and business readiness for responsible tourism implementation ............. 134
4.4 Summary of the industry expert questionnaires ....................................................................... 136
Chapter 5. Broad industry survey findings ...................................................................................... 137
5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 137
5.2 Analysis and findings................................................................................................................ 137
5.2.1 Broad industry survey participants - context ..................................................................... 137
5.2.2 Definition and categorisation of SAEs .............................................................................. 141
5.2.3 Awareness of responsible tourism and sustainable tourism ............................................. 142
5.2.4 Number of measures implemented ................................................................................... 145
5.2.5 Types of measures implemented ...................................................................................... 146
5.2.6 Barriers to running sustainable tourism businesses ............................................................... 153
5.3 Conclusions of broad industry survey ...................................................................................... 178
5.4 Summary of the broad industry survey .................................................................................... 182
Chapter 6. Focus groups and interview – analysis and findings ..................................................... 183
6.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 183
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6.2 Findings per group and summary of individual responses....................................................... 186
6.2.1 Vereeniging ....................................................................................................................... 186
6.2.2 Rivonia .............................................................................................................................. 189
6.2.3 Potchefstroom ................................................................................................................... 192
6.2.4 Magaliesburg ..................................................................................................................... 196
6.2.5 Individual responses summary ......................................................................................... 198
6.2.6 Summary of responses........................................................................................................... 203
6.4 Conclusions on the focus groups and individual responses .................................................... 205
6.5 Summary of focus groups and one-on-one interviews ............................................................. 208
Chapter 7. Sustainable tourism implementation in SAEs ............................................................... 209
7.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 209
7.2 Summary of key research findings ........................................................................................... 209
7.2.1 Definition of sustainable tourism ....................................................................................... 211
7.2.2 Definition and categorisation of an SAE ........................................................................... 217
7.2.3 The role of smaller accommodation in the tourism sector ................................................ 221
7.2.4 Smaller accommodation establishments – industry sustainability .................................... 223
7.2.5 Basic indicators for SAEs of 20 rooms and less ............................................................... 226
7.2.6 Barriers to the implementation of sustainable tourism in SAEs ........................................ 227
7.3 Framework ............................................................................................................................... 228
7.3.1 Attributes of the framework ............................................................................................... 228
7.3.2 Description of the framework ............................................................................................ 229
7.3.3 Who should use the framework? ........................................................................................... 230
7.3.4 Framework overview and discussion ................................................................................ 231
7.3.5 Role players (A. in Figure 7.3) ......................................................................................... 233
7.3.6 Guiding principles (B. in Figure 7.3).................................................................................. 238
7.3.7 Local context (C. in Figure 7.3) ......................................................................................... 241
7.3.8 Development of strategies (D. in Figure 7.3) .................................................................... 244
7.3.10 Indicators of value and impacts (E1 and E2. in Figure 7.3) .............................................. 248
7.3.11 Collaborative platforms and governance (F. in Figure 7.3) ............................................. 250
7.3.12 Ongoing engagement and communication (G. in Figure 7.3) .......................................... 253
7.3.13 Investment and funding (not indicated on the proposed framework) ................................ 254
7.4 Conclusions and recommendations ......................................................................................... 256
Chapter 8. Synthesis, conclusions and recommendations for further research ............................. 262
8.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 262
8.2 Synthesis .................................................................................................................................. 262
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