Critical analysis of the recreational facilities at Sun City

Abstract

Tourism is regarded as one of the world's fastest growing industries, the researcher feels that South Africa is a highly attractive tourist destination, full of promise and potential and is striving to position itself as a world-class contender within this high-growth global industry. Many existing and new tourism businesses have expanded, have developed new products and are becoming increasingly competitive. South Africa is in a position to take advantage of evolving global market trends in all aspects of tourism but it needs to consolidate and enhance its economic foundations to realize the full potential. Sun City is a prime example of the potential South Africa has to recognize needs within the leisure industry and to fulfill them in a spectacular way. The research was primarily aimed at analysing the exciting recreational facilities at Sun City and view which areas are over-utilised and needs expansion or areas which are under-utilised and needs closure as well as reasons behind how best to keep the tourist coming in year after year. The research utilized a three-year history of measured level of business to the resort. The measurements were conducted on frequency of visits, reason for visit, length of stay and popular destination visited during their stay (years dating back as 1997). On analysis of the data, it was found that due to the gambling licenses being legalised in South Africa, the resort had lost a lot of business. Also due to the large conference venues being built in other towns like Durban and Johannesburg, the resort has also lost the corporate clients. The researcher feels that Sun City can take steps to strengthen the tourism industry by building stronger economic foundations that will underpin the resorts development. The following areas need to be address; the marketing and advertising needs to be focused; new attractions need to be introduced; educating the society surrounding the resort and potential for growth within company for the employees.