Assessing the impact of tourism management : a case-study analysis of Ficksburg, South Africa

Abstract

Management of tourism is a very complex subject which has been researched by so many people since time immemorial. The current study is focused on Assessing the Impact of Tourism management: A case study analysis of Ficksburg South Africa. The study has been divided into five chapters which start by introducing the topic as well as providing its orientation to the readers. A wide variety of materials in form of literature review was conducted and some inferences were also made therefrom. The quantitative methodology was used in the research . The questionnaire and the structured interview were used as the only data collection instruments. The population for the study was drawn from randomly selected participants who were drawn from different tourism related entities based in the Ficksburg area. A comparison was also made between the tourism management style employed in Ficksburg with the management style adopted in other successful tourist destinations in South Africa. A total of 100 respondents participated in the study out of which the majority of the respondents indicated that there was no tourism management strategy in Ficksburg. The respondents also indicated that the national and provincial governments were not doing enough in order to develop the potential of tourism in Ficksburg to both the local and international visitors. A lot of areas of interest in Ficksburg were identified as places which could attract many visitors to the area such as the "Cherry festival, The Mangaung Cultural festival (MACUFE) and historical sites such as the Maluti Mountains. Results of the study were presented in tables for easy understanding by readers and from the analysis of the results, it the study findings are that there is no tourism strategy in Ficksburg, the government is not doing enough to

boost the tourism potential. The study also found that very few inhabitants of the area are aware of any tourism promotion activities. The study further made recommendations which are aimed at unlocking the tourism potential in the area. Some of the recommendations were that the government should take a leading role in encouraging both the public and private tourism investment in the area. The local population was also advised to take up the tourism challenge in view of the forth coming world cup in the year 2010.