This study seeks to unpack the implications that the COVID-19 pandemic has placed on the South African domestic tourism market. In particular, the study considers how, given the negative impacts that have been felt with international travel being largely restricted, many destinations who traditionally rely on tourism will approach domestic tourism post the restrictions. Given South Africa’s previous aggressive campaigns which sought to promote domestic tourism in the country, the value of this focus area cannot be overlooked. The need for empirical research that assesses the attitudes of people regarding travel and tourism beyond the pandemic in a country that has been one of the hardest-hit on the African continent is equally important in this respect. Data for the study was sourced from interviews with key informant personnel in the domain of tourism coupled with an online questionnaire survey that was collected from respondents through the Google Forms Application. The key findings from the study reveal that a majority of the respondents were generally satisfied with the management of the pandemic in the country and were willing to wait until all restrictions were lifted before travelling again. Moreover, many of the respondents felt that they would likely travel more domestically in order to assist the tourism industry recover post-COVID-19 and would actively help market the country to friends and relatives in assisting with the recovery marketing initiatives. However, major concerns were raised about the financial possibilities of the domestic tourists as well as the lack of effective communication and cooperation between the private sector and the government regarding tourism’s recovery plan.

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This study considered the urban infrastructure legacy impacts of mega-events in the Global South with a specific focus on South Africa’s 2010 stadia. By way of multiple case studies, undertaken in 2010 FIFA World Cup stadia in host cities Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth, and applying a mixed-method approach, n=1120 urban residents living within a 2-km radius were surveyed in addition to interviews with key resource persons. The empirical findings indicate the existence of significant statistical differences in the perceptions of the urban residents and other stakeholder groups regarding the sustainability precepts that accompany the construction of stadia associated with the long-term urban infrastructure legacy implications. While the urban residents and the key resource persons agreed that the stadia had the potential to attract positive urban infrastructure legacy outcomes to their communities, one of the critical observations noted was the agreement that the costs associated with the maintenance and operations of these stadia were currently enormous, posing significant sustainability challenges and contentions. The study provides fresh insights into long-term mega-event urban infrastructure legacy impact assessment from a developing country perspective with innovative planning and strategy implications.

Orientation: This article drew from an interpretivist research orientation.Research purpose: This study aimed at contextualising domestic tourism as a strategic tool with which the tourism sector can recover from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in South Africa.Motivation for the study: The impact of COVID-19 on the economy, and tourism in particular, has been devastating in South Africa. Given the historical overreliance on international tourism receipts, the importance of domestic tourism was highlighted during the reduced lockdown levels. This study was therefore motivated by the potential of this market to offset some of the losses to international tourism in times of uncertainty.Research design, approach and method: This study involved a qualitative research design where in-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted with purposefully selected key resource stakeholders (n = 20) in domestic tourism. These interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed.Main findings: The study found that the stakeholders were satisfied with how the government initially dealt with the pandemic, although they were very critical of the lack of communication. Additionally, they noted that domestic tourism is an important springboard for recovery in the country but only if effective collaboration between the private and public sectors is enhanced.Practical/managerial implications: Recommendations are made for more communication amongst stakeholders, which in turn will result in better collaborations and ultimately achieving effective use of domestic tourism as a cornerstone for further development and recovery.Contribution/value-add: This study makes a modest contribution to tourism research, especially in the face of external shocks such as that of the COVID-19 pandemic.

PurposeThis paper discusses the outcomes of an exploratory study into the innovations, adaptations, and best practices that the tourism and hospitality sector in Africa should implement in dealing with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic-induced disruptions.Design/methodology/approachThis paper was based on data collected through qualitative approaches by reviewing published academic articles and unpublished documents, including websites, media reports and global public health entities such as the World Health Organization (WHO). Because of the lack of reliable data in some cases, this study is inductive in nature.FindingsThe main finding of this research suggests that Africa which is seemingly the least affected in infection and casualty rates has conversely borne the brunt of the negative responses from the global community in travel restrictions and mobility curtailment. Overwhelming trends suggest the domestic tourism market does not have the spending capacity of international visitors who arrive with foreign currency, inevitably main-stream in the form of USD, EURO and GBP, with their spending power estimated at between 1:18 and 1:22. The fragmented, cascaded and sometimes disorganised approach in dealing with policy adoptions and implementation in managing developments around the pandemic further inhibits a compelling approach to continent-wide tourism and hospitality revival.Originality/valueThis paper highlights trends, innovations, and adaptations to COVID-19-related revival strategies for Africa and contributes to academic debates on the topic which, in the Global South context is currently under-researched.

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This study seeks to explore the early considerations that COVID-19 induced mobility restrictions placed on study-abroad programmes at universities in South Africa. The study considers how, given the negative impacts that were felt with international travel being largely restricted, universities in the Western Cape province approached study-abroad programmes during the restrictions and post restriction considerations. Data for this pilot study were collected via a mixed-method approach targeting international students and key resource persons through the international offices at four universities in the Western Cape. Twenty-three international students and two key resource persons responded to the pilot. Key indications highlight a European dominance in the demographic distribution of participants while illustrating a steady interest in the study-abroad programmes irrespective of the challenges induced by the pandemic. While the anxieties and uncertainties induced by the evolving nature of the pandemic were noted, emerging trends from the data highlighted areas of focus for future resilience strategies to shore up the sector from future crises, the scale and nature of COVID-19. As a pilot to a broader empirical study, it is hoped that the outcomes will contribute towards the development of conceptual tenets for the sustainable development of the study-abroad programme segment within the international higher education nexus while providing context for proposing mitigating actions and strategies which would help higher education institutions move from a crisis management situation to more long-term resilience planning.

The article explores the motivations of students participating in study-abroad programmes and the effects of pandemic-related travel restrictions and associated regulations at three universities in South Africa. The author analyses the policies of universities in the Western Cape province regarding study-abroad programmes when pandemic restrictions were in place and once they were lifted. The discussion is based on quantitative data collected during a survey involving 75 foreign students and qualitative data obtained during interviews with 5 programme coordinators at the international offices of the selected universities. The majority of foreign students surveyed were from Europe. While anxieties and uncertainties exist, university representatives were found to be hopeful about the future of study-abroad programmes.