The geography of the South African adventure tourism industry.

• Main Author: Tracey McKay
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: AfricaJournals 2016-07-01
• Series: African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure
• Subjects: Adventure tourism; South Africa; commercial; geographic distribution
• Online Access: http://www.ajhtl.com/uploads/7/1/6/3/7163688/article_1_vol_5__3_final.pdf

The spatial organisation of the adventure tourism industry in South Africa is presented based on an analysis of a national dataset of adventure tourism suppliers. At a national level, the spatial distribution of adventure tourism in South Africa is geographically uneven. The Western Cape is by far the most important province in terms of adventure, followed by KwaZulu-Natal and then Gauteng. Coastal provinces are at an advantage when it comes to building an adventure tourism industry, but the presence of physical resources such as the sea, mountains, rivers, dunes, open veld and nature reserves alone, does not account for development of the sector. Density and distribution of operators is also linked to both population size and disposable incomes, making adventure tourism a tourismrelated product across all provinces, but also a tourism-characteristic product in both the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, supported by both domestic and international tourists. Indications are that for seven of the nine provinces, the sector is underdeveloped so opportunities for expansion abound, especially in terms of urban adventure products.