Tourism and the development of small-scale accommodation businesses in the Cape Town central business district

Abstract

For many years, tourism has been one of the most discussed topics worldwide. The tourism industry is one of the fastest-growing segments of the local economy and presents an excellent opportunity for profit-driven entrepreneurs in South Africa. The accommodation sector is among the possibilities and opportunities that the tourist industry needs to explore and exploit. However, the tourism market, and especially small-scale accommodation, face challenges that impact the sector's growth. This study aimed to analyse how tourism influences the development of small-scale accommodation businesses in Cape Town’s central business district (CBD). The researcher used a quantitative approach for this project. This included the distribution of over 100 questionnaires to respondents from small accommodation establishments in and around the city centre of Cape Town. Data collected from respondents were analysed using IBM® SPSS® Statistics software as an appropriate means of treating quantitative information. The results are presented in tabular format, by cross-tabulation and/or graphs. As an essential sector in the tourism market in Cape Town, small accommodation establishments face the threat of high levels of competition and lack of financial assistance, and eventually are impacted by various macro-environmental factors such as political, technological, legal, environmental, economic, and social forces. Based on the findings, it is recommended that government should engage more in supporting small businesses to access financial help to grow, implement better strategies to reduce the levels of crime in the Cape Town central business district (CBD) that impact the tourism market, and devise more favourable regulations for visitors and tourism-operating activities. Additionally, there is a need for small-sized accommodation to build business partnerships with large hotels to enhance the development of the sector.