Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Tourism BEE Charter Council baseline study
A survey commissioned by the Tourism BEE Charter Council in 2007 investi-
gated the state of transformation in the South African tourism industry in more
detail. The study noted that larger tourism businesses, with an average annual
turnover of R14 billion are, in general, meeting 2006 transformation targets,
although often falling short of 2009 goals. The study found that companies are
underperforming in the areas of strategic representation (60 per cent below
target), especially of black women and preferential procurement (25 per cent
below target) (Yarona Management Consulting, 2007). Small and medium-sized
companies, which comprise more than half of the sector, however, are struggling
to meet both the 2006 and 2009 targets in nearly all measurement areas and, on
average, 80 per cent of businesses have not managed to meet 2006 targets.
Transformation in the small business tourism sector is thus extremely limited.
Reasons for this include: the difficulty small businesses have in reaching the BEE
scores, a perception that government tenders do not apply to small businesses and
therefore are of little use to them, and a lack of understanding of the seemingly
complicated and expensive accreditation process (Frey,
2007a; Yarona
Management Consulting, 2007).
Despite these current short-comings, the policies for responsible tourism
implementation, support and education for responsible tourism are in place. To
facilitate transformation, government and other tourism agencies have to support
businesses in the implementation phase of RTM. Frey's (2007a) research shows
clearly that responsible management intention - in other words the will and ability
to commit resources into bringing about change - is negative. Adopting RTM has
to become easy, cheap and fast.
Some of the government agencies that are involved in fostering responsible
tourism in southern Africa are listed in Table 5.3.
Marketing implications
In terms of achieving the wider socioeconomic mandate of tourism in South
Africa, adopting RTM practices will contribute significantly to bringing about
transformation and addressing the inequalities of the past. Globally, RTM is in
line with reaching the objectives of poverty reduction and unemployment as
outlined in the MDGs, as well as addressing issues around climate change and
scarce resource management. Finally, RTM is a tool for the local tourism industry
to develop a strategic competitive advantage, diversify the product offering and
provide a unique and authentic experience. This chapter has identified various
factors, which are negatively affecting management attitude, intention and behav-
iour. The following section recommends how some of these challenges can be
addressed.
The perceived costs of using small suppliers are too high. These costs include
insufficient quality standards and quantity capacity, as well as ordering and deliv-
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