Browsing by Author "Carstens, Rouzanne"

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    “Had its history been different, South Africa would probably have been one of the most visited places in the world.”? : analysing South African tourism history with special reference to the Western Cape, 1980-2000
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-12) Carstens, Rouzanne; Grundlingh, Albert M.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of History.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: During his State of the Nation Address on 13 February 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa singled out tourism as a key driver for economic growth in the country. He also identified this industry as one of the most noteworthy contributors regarding job creation during the coming years. This is a sentiment which is reflected in a number of academic pieces, specifically those which focused on the so-called rebirth of the tourism industry in South Africa after 1994. Many believe the tourism industry only received attention when it was realized this industry could be used to promote the so-called ‘new’ South Africa after de Klerk’s surprising announcements of 1990. Even the White Paper: Development and Promotion of Tourism in South Africa of 1996 stated that if South Africa’s “history had been different, South Africa would probably have been one of the most visited places in the world.”2 This thesis questions this specific statement and the accompanying statements that it was the so-called ‘Mandela-Boom’ that led to South Africa’s thriving tourism industry, which, in 2019, was estimated to be worth R354,9 billion. This study specifically looks at how the tourism industry navigated and adapted with regards to the sanctions of the 1980s, the political changes of the 1990s and the new millennium in 2000.