An investigation of sustainable tourism development in Port St Johns, Eastern Cape Province

Abstract

Tourism has been noted to be the fastest-growing industry globally. It has also been noted that tourism can change the lives of the destination community. However, despite these positive promises of tourism, there is a need to balance tourism expansion and sustainability. In many cases, it seems that the expansion of tourism and sustainability are mutually exclusive. This study looked at how sustainable tourism development in Port St Johns could be achieved. The study used a mixed methods approach to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. Purposive and convenience sampling procedures were applied. The study revealed that although there is great tourism potential in Port St Johns, it remains largely unexploited due to several reasons including poor funding and lack of all stakeholder involvement. It is also clear that Port St Johns is blessed with several tourist attractions. Going forward, there is a need to adopt sustainable tourism development practices like ensuring the local community is actively involved and has a fair share of the proceeds from the tourism activities in their area.