Policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and governance implications on the domestic tourism sector in South Africa

Abstract

The outbreak of COVID-19 in South Africa significantly affected the domestic tourism sector. Considering the limited research that has been undertaken in assessing the policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, this study aimed at exploring the policy responses implemented by the South African government in efforts at containing the spread of the virus and at flattening the curve of infections, and the governance implications thereto in the context of the domestic tourism sector. Certain scholars posit that limited research has been carried out to assess the policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, considering its governance implications for the tourism sector in the South African context, thereby necessitating this empirical engagement. Adopting a mixed-methods approach, the study attracted 123 respondents via a web-based questionnaire for the quantitative leg of the data collection process and 13 key informant personnel using interviews for the qualitative data collection process respectively. The quantitative data was analysed by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 28 in order to obtain both the descriptive and inferential outcomes of the study while for the qualitative element, ATLAS.ti was relied upon for thematic analysis. The findings of the study highlighted the crippling effects of the pandemic on the domestic tourism sector, resulting from the pandemic-related mobility restrictions and regulations. Additionally, the outcomes highlighted a mixed reaction to government policy responses in the early stages of the pandemic in terms of the swift action in containing the initial spread while noting the sometimes-non-consideration of pandemic-ready safety regulation in relation to easing strict regulatory measures. Given the novelty of the pandemic during the early periods of the outbreak, the study notes the need for government and private sector-led collaborations to be established in the areas of disaster risk management within the domestic tourism sector in order to maintain a currency with readiness approaches in the context of COVID-19 and future pandemics of this nature. The study proposes the need for greater collaboration and stakeholder engagement in order to leverage existing resources while building more resilient recovery frameworks. Furthermore, the study contributes to the ever-growing body of extant knowledge in the area of disaster management within the tourism research nexus.