Identifying risks facing the South African tourism industry

Abstract

Even though risks certainly influence travel and tourism patterns, very little research has been conducted into how the industry generally perceives and manages risks. This article aims to (i) identify the risks the South African tourism industry deems important; (ii) construct a matrix for assessing the various risks identified and (iii) determine whether sectors of the industry rate the importance of risks differently. In total, there were 212 responses to the questionnaire in the survey on South African tourism businesses. The statistical analysis included a factor analysis and an ANOVA (analysis of variance). Nine factors were identified and the ANOVA confirmed that sectors do perceive differing levels of importance in the various risks. The risk assessment matrix showed that internal risks are rated among the most important, even though little attention is paid to these in the literature