Tourism in the New South Africa

Book excerpt: A new model of tourism development has recently emerged out of a widening concern for the environment. Known variously as 'ecotourism', 'new tourism', 'socially responsible tourism', huge claims are made for it in terms of what it might offer in promoting national tourism development. Yet how well does this new model work in practice? And what does it mean to be an international tourist encountering the cultural, political and economic particularities of the South African experience? Garth Allen and Frank Brennan seek to explore the realities of this new morality of tourism as experienced in four important tourist areas of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa: the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park - South Africa's third largest reserve and a vast and beautiful area accredited World Heritage Status; the Phinda Resource Reserve, renowned for its diverse habitats and rich wildlife; Kosi Bay, a wetland area of international importance; and the Durban beachfront. For the first time, they try to locate the international tourist within the moral maze of tourism in the new South Africa. Their analysis can be applied to other societies committed to the belief that investing in tourism development will be a fast track to economic development and will resonate with the moral challenges facing the international tourist.