The Domestic Tourism Growth Strategy (Grade 11 NSC Matric Tourism): Revision Notes

The Domestic Tourism Growth Strategy

Introduction to the DTGS

The Domestic Tourism Growth Strategy (DTGS) is a government plan created for the period 2012-2020. This strategy was developed by two important government departments: the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the National Department of Tourism (NDT). These departments work together to set policies and priorities that guide how tourism develops and grows in South Africa.

Why does South Africa need a DTGS?

Having a structured strategy for domestic tourism is essential for several important reasons:

Economic growth: The strategy aims to increase how much money domestic tourism contributes to the country's economy. By encouraging more South Africans to travel within their own country, more money flows into local businesses, accommodation providers, restaurants, and attractions.

Job creation: When more people travel domestically, more jobs are created in the tourism industry. This helps reduce unemployment in South Africa.

Shared benefits: The strategy ensures that the benefits of tourism are spread more evenly across all nine provinces, not just concentrated in a few popular destinations.

Building a travel culture: Many South Africans have never had the opportunity to explore their own country. The DTGS aims to change this by making travel more accessible and encouraging all South Africans to discover what their country has to offer.

The problem facing domestic tourism

Before the DTGS was created, research showed that most South Africans had not travelled within their own country. There are several reasons why many people do not travel:

• Financial barriers: Many people cannot afford the costs associated with travelling, such as transport, accommodation, and activities
• Lack of motivation: Some people simply have no reason or desire to travel
• Time constraints: People may feel they are too busy with work and other responsibilities to take time off for travel
• Unemployment: Without a steady income, travel becomes impossible for many families
• Negative attitudes: Some people actively dislike the idea of travelling

Beyond these individual reasons, there are also deeper structural problems:

Limited product diversity: The tourism products available to domestic tourists are sometimes limited, and there is not enough variety to appeal to different interests and budgets.

Intra-provincial travel patterns: Most domestic tourists tend to travel only within their own province rather than exploring other parts of the country. This is called intra-provincial travel.

Seasonality issues: Domestic travel tends to be highly seasonal, concentrated during school holidays and peak tourism seasons. This creates challenges for tourism businesses that struggle to remain viable during quiet periods.

The vision and objectives of the DTGS

The vision

The four main objectives

The DTGS has four strategic objectives that work together to grow domestic tourism:

1. To increase domestic tourism expenditure (the amount of money spent)
2. To increase domestic tourism volume (the number of trips taken)
3. To address seasonality and geographic spread
4. To enhance the culture of travel amongst all South Africans

Values underpinning the strategy

The DTGS is built on six core values that guide all tourism development:

• Responsible tourism: Tourism that benefits local communities and protects the environment
• Respect for culture and heritage: Valuing South Africa's diverse cultures and historical sites
• Service excellence: Providing high-quality experiences to all tourists
• Sector transformation: Ensuring that previously disadvantaged people can participate in and benefit from tourism
• Transparency: Operating openly and honestly in all tourism activities
• Integrity: Maintaining high ethical standards in the tourism industry

The four strategic objectives explained

Objective 1: Increasing domestic tourism expenditure (revenue)

What does this mean?

This objective focuses on encouraging domestic tourists to spend more money during their trips. The goal is to increase both the overall contribution of domestic tourism to GDP and the contribution of business tourism to total tourism revenue.

How can domestic tourists spend more?

There are three main ways to increase expenditure:

• Taking more trips throughout the year
• Staying longer at destinations
• Spending more money on average per trip

Actions to achieve this objective

The strategy includes several practical actions:

• Product development: Enough tourism products and services must be created to satisfy different market segments. This means researching what domestic tourists want and ensuring tourism products meet their needs.

• Infrastructure investment: Money needs to be invested in improving tourism infrastructure, such as roads, accommodation facilities, and visitor centres.

• Removing policy barriers: Government policies that make tourism difficult or expensive need to be identified and changed.

• Developing new products: Both existing attractions and new tourism products should be developed to meet the needs of target markets.

• Partnerships and promotions: Working with the film industry, Department of Arts and Culture, and sports associations can help promote tourism activities around events. Same-day trips to different attractions should be encouraged.

• Discounted rates: Special rates for domestic tourists can help establish a culture of travel and make tourism more affordable.

• Events and information: Hosting events in different areas and improving tourist information centres helps inform people about what is available. Using wider networks like petrol stations, mobile applications, and community radio stations spreads tourism information to more people.

Objective 2: Increasing domestic tourist volumes

What does this mean?

This objective aims to increase the actual number of trips that domestic tourists take. Specifically, the strategy wants to:

• Increase the number of people taking holiday trips
• Increase the number of adult travellers
• Convert VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives) trips into holiday trips

Ways to motivate more South Africans to travel

The strategy suggests several approaches:

• Awareness campaigns: Using tourism advertising to show South Africans what their country has to offer
• Building a holiday culture: Working to create a culture where taking holidays is seen as normal and desirable
• Media campaigns: Using different media platforms like radio and television to create a desire to travel and distribute travel information
• Converting interest into action: Helping people move from being interested in travel to actually booking and taking trips
• Converting non-holiday travellers: Encouraging people who currently only travel to visit friends and family to also take proper holidays
• Repeat visits: Using techniques like re-selling (convincing people to return), cross-selling (promoting related products), and up-selling (encouraging people to upgrade their experiences)
• Promoting different trip types: Marketing both short weekend breaks and longer extended vacations

Actions to achieve this objective

• Affordable packages: Creating differentiated tourism packages that are affordable for local tourists with different budgets
• Domestic Travel Card: Developing a special card that gives domestic travellers incentives and discounts at participating businesses
• Conversion mechanisms: Reviewing and improving the ways the tourism industry converts people's interest into actual bookings

Objective 3: Addressing seasonality and equitable geographic spread

What does this mean?

This objective has two parts: dealing with seasonality and improving geographic spread.

Understanding seasonality

The problem: Domestic travel in South Africa happens mainly during school holidays and peak seasons (summer). This creates several challenges:

• Tourism businesses struggle during quiet periods
• Some destinations become overcrowded during peak times
• International tourists have difficulty finding accommodation during South African school holidays

Solutions for seasonality

The strategy suggests several approaches:

• Year-round travel: Encouraging South Africans to travel throughout the year, especially during winter when international tourist demand is lower

• Non-traditional destinations: Promoting travel to destinations that are not traditionally busy during peak periods from September to December. Examples include the Drakensberg, KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, KwaZulu-Natal Battlefields, Klein Karoo, Overberg, and Groot Marico.

• Special rates and discounts: Using marketing techniques like reduced rates during off-peak seasons to encourage visits

• Area marketing: Marketing entire areas rather than just specific businesses, so all tourism operators in a region benefit

• Special events: Creating and promoting festivals and events during off-peak times to attract visitors

Understanding geographic spread

The problem: Currently, the benefits of tourism are not evenly distributed across South Africa. Most domestic trips are concentrated in certain provinces. Research shows that KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, the Eastern Cape, and the Western Cape receive the most domestic trips. This is partly because most domestic tourists practise intra-provincial travel (staying within their own province).

The goal: Tourism benefits should be spread more evenly across all nine provinces.

Solutions for geographic spread

• Inter-provincial travel: Encouraging domestic tourists to visit different provinces rather than just staying within their own province. This is called inter-provincial travel.

• Variety of activities: Ensuring tourists can participate in diverse activities at different destinations

• Promoting undervisited provinces: Actively marketing trips to provinces that currently receive fewer domestic tourists

• Cross-provincial packaging: Creating tourism packages that include activities in multiple provinces

• Events in all provinces: Supporting mega events across all provinces, especially during low season, to attract more visitors to less visited areas

• Provincial partnerships: Creating partnerships between provincial marketing offices to promote cross-selling across provinces

Actions to achieve this objective

• Year-round facility use: Ensuring existing tourism facilities and government-owned assets are used throughout the year, not just during peak seasons

• Public-Private Partnership Framework: Developing partnerships between government and private businesses to improve tourism development

• Creating special activities: Developing unique activities in less visited areas to attract tourists

• Cross-provincial packages: Establishing tourism packages that combine attractions from different provinces

• Mega events support: Providing support for large events in all provinces to increase visitors during low season

• Differentiated marketing: Using provincial marketing offices to create partnerships and promote cross-selling opportunities

Objective 4: Enhancing the culture of tourism among South Africans

What does this mean?

This objective aims to change attitudes and create a culture where all South Africans see travel as valuable and desirable. The goal is to motivate people who currently see no reason to travel.

Why is this important?

Many South Africans have never had the opportunity or encouragement to travel. Building a culture of tourism means:

• More South Africans discover their own country
• Tourism becomes more inclusive and representative of all population groups
• The economic benefits of tourism reach more communities
• Future generations grow up valuing travel and exploration

Actions to achieve this objective

• Tourism awareness programmes: Creating educational programmes about the value and benefits of tourism

• Creating understanding: Helping non-travellers understand what tourism offers and why it matters

• Training programmes: Providing training for tourism product owners, their employees, and neighbouring communities to improve service quality and welcome visitors

The domestic marketing campaign

Campaign overview

The South African government launched a new domestic tourism marketing campaign to support the DTGS objectives. This campaign replaced the previous "Sho't Left" campaign.

The five target groups

The campaign identified five specific groups of potential domestic tourists to target:

1. Spontaneous Budget Explorers: People who want to travel but are working with limited budgets. They look for affordable, spontaneous travel opportunities.

2. New Horizon Families: Families who are relatively new to holiday travel and want to create experiences for their children.

3. High-Life Enthusiasts: People who enjoy luxury experiences and are willing to spend money on high-end travel.

4. Seasoned Leisure Seekers: Experienced travellers who have travelled before and are looking for new experiences.

5. Well to-Do Mzanzi Families: Established middle-class South African families with disposable income for travel.

The purpose of the campaign

The campaign tries to motivate South Africans to travel in their own country by emphasising that travel:

• Enriches people's lives through new experiences
• Excites and stimulates the mind
• Helps people reconnect with their families
• Is emotionally beneficial and contributes to wellbeing

The five pillars of the campaign

The 2012 to 2020 domestic campaign is built on five strategic pillars:

1. Brand marketing: Creating and maintaining a strong, appealing brand for South African domestic tourism

2. User-generated road map: Encouraging tourists themselves to share their experiences and recommendations, creating authentic content that inspires others

3. Industry participation: Getting tourism businesses actively involved in the campaign

4. Event promotion and packaging: Promoting events and creating attractive tourism packages that combine different experiences

5. Direct consumer involvement: Engaging directly with potential tourists through various channels to motivate them to travel

Exam tips

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