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Abstract
Notwithstanding tourism in South Africa being declared a priority sector alongside mining and
agriculture, the South African governments concern with the sustainability of the domestic
tourism market stems from a significant lack of travel culture among the majority of the population.
This study takes an initial look at the development of social tourism in South Africa both
historically and as an unconventional way of addressing some of South Africas domestic tourism
gaps with particular emphasis on encouraging youth participation in social tourism. Specifically,
the report recounts evidence of social tourism development in South Africa along three distinct
historical and political periods namely during the independence period of 1910-1948, in the period
of apartheid between 1948 and 1994 and in the post 1994 democratic era. In particular the paper
presents the workings of the Star Seaside Fund, a charity organisation that has been developing
social tourism in South Africa since 1910. In-depth interviews with staff of the charity organisation
revealed surprising facts that the Star Seaside Fund was taking underprivileged black children to
the seaside during the apartheid era when travel of the majority of its black citizens was extremely
restricted and heavily regulated. Furthermore, in-depth interviews with two participants confirmed
the long-lasting social and psychological benefits of social tourism travel to the participating youth.
Therefore this study represents a contribution to the further enrichment of social tourism discourse
in South Africa as well as a better understanding of its current nature.
Keywords: Social tourism, youth travel, domestic tourism, Star Seaside Fund, South Africa.
How to cite this article:
Adinolfi, M.C. & Ivanovic, M. (2015). Recounting social tourism development in South Africa.
African Journal for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance, Supplement 1
(December), 1-12.
Introduction
The earliest definition of social tourism is said to be that by Hunziker (1951: 1),
cited in Minnaert, Maitland and Miller (2011: 404), where it is defined as the
relationships and phenomena in the field of tourism resulting from participation in
travel by economically weak or otherwise disadvantaged elements in society.
This definition of social tourism is however not ubiquitous as elements of
educational links (Minnaert, 2012), and other variations of the definition
(McCabe, 2014; Minnaert, 2012; Minnaert, Maitland & Miller, 2011; Minnaert,
Maitland & Miller, 2006) are present in the literature. Social tourism, in the
European context, has traditionally been seen as intended for ageing,
disadvantaged and disabled segments of the population. This form of tourism has
been well established on the European continent since the mid-Victorian Era
Post 1994
democratic era
the
Academic
performance and
level of poverty
Underprivileged
schools and
orphanages
Star Seaside Fund
Bantu Childrens
Star Seaside Fund
Black & coloured
Holiday Fund
children taken on
trips
Star Seaside Fund
Star Seaside Fund
Star Seaside Fund
White children
taken on trips
Source: authors own findings based on interviews and literature review.
The first results of research in South African archives revealed three distinct
phases in social tourism development in South Africa:
In the third, post-1994 phase the performance in school remained the main
selection criteria but the focus mostly turned to poor schools and
orphanages of all races.
The results of two in-depth interviews revealed the long lasting, life changing
benefits of childrens participation in social tourism:
The children not only discovered that there is a different world outside the
townships but the trip also changed their outlook on life making them more
determined, focused and motivated to succeed.
The participants currently prioritise their familys travel domestically
which demonstrates that improving travel culture (NDT, 2012b; 2013)
among the domestic previously disadvantaged population is an important
long lasting benefit of social tourism.
It is observed from the archival evidence and the responses from participants that
there is a clear thread which emphasises poverty in each phase of social tourism
development, similar to that of other developing countries. Therefore an initial
look into the definition of social tourism in a South African context has to be
grounded by the role that social tourism has played in providing access to tourism
participation for the poor. However, the outcomes of ongoing research are
expected to reveal the full context in which social tourism is taking shape in South
Africa in particular its potential to enhance the current lack of culture of travel
which is critical in the development of domestic tourism (NDT, 2012b).
The long standing argument regarding the lack of the culture of travel in South
Africa which compromises domestic tourism growth in the future (Rogerson,
2014; 2015) is that it is directly linked to the prevalence of VFR travel in domestic
tourism in South Africa (NDT, 2012b). VFR travel dominated by black travellers
(Rogerson, 2015: 139) is attributed to the uneven geography of tourism in South
Africa as a result of racial segregation and particularly the migrant labour system
during apartheid (Rogerson, 2014). The phenomenon of VFR travel in South
Africa is prevalent among groups of poorer households from former Bantustans
as well as a majority of the marginalised population residing within or on fringe
of cities integrated into translocal contexts of living, (Steinbrink, 2010 cited in
Rogerson, 2015: 147).
The main recommendations arising from the findings presented in this paper are
that the VFR market has potential to participate in social tourism where the
associated social and psychological benefits can address the lack of travel culture
beyond the economic expectations of growing domestic tourism in South Africa.
The main contribution of this study to establishing social tourism discourse in
South Africa is that for the first time historical evidence of social tourism