Risk & Crisis Management in Tourism Sector:
Recovery from Crisis
in the OIC Member Countries
99
5. CASE STUDIES – Non-OIC Countries
In this section the case studies carried out for this report into tourism crisis management in four
countries which are not members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation will be discussed,
namely South Africa, the United Kingdom, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Field researchwas carried out in
South Africa, while the other three countries were investigated via desk research into the academic
and grey literature and news reports. As in Section 4, each case study starts with a brief overview
of the history and development of tourism in order to set the context for the crisis situations that
have arisen. The crises or disasters that have occurred and their impact on tourism are then
outlined, followed by measures taken by the government and industry of the countries to recover.
5.1. Case Study 1 – South Africa (Field study)
5.1.1. History and Development of Tourism in South Africa
South Africa became a major tourism destination relatively recently, as leisure tourists began to
arrive in significant numbers only after the end of the apartheid regime in 1994.
The country has a varied and scenic tourism product in large part because of its topographical
and biological diversity, with white sandy beaches, mountain ranges, savannah grasslands and
deserts such as the Kalahari and the Great Karoo. Much of its ecological wealth is protected in
state-owned national parks and private protected areas. Safari tourism is a major sector because
it is relatively easy to spot the iconic ‘Big Five’ species, i.e. lions, leopards, elephants, rhino, and
Cape buffalo, as well as numerous other charismatic animals such as giraffes, antelope and
meerkats. The services and facilities for wildlife-watching are amongst the best in the world,
ranging from ‘mass safari’ tours to high-end stays on private game ranches. Marine-based
wildlife attractions are also popular, including whale-watching, scuba-diving and shark-cage
diving.
Adventure sports and food and wine tours are also well developed, while the cities of Durban,
Cape Town and Johannesburg have interesting museums and world-class shopping malls.
Cultural tourism includes visits to the Townships, World Heritage Sites, and to sites of
significance to the anti-apartheid movement and historically oppressed communities. Linked to
this, the legacy of anti-apartheid and post-apartheid regime leader Nelson Mandela is highly
influential, with Mandela’s former prison on Robben Island inscribed as a World Heritage Site
in 1999 and the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg listed as the city’s top attraction on
TripAdvisor. Other important niche sectors include medical tourism and gambling tourism.
South Africa successfully hosted the FIFA World Cup in 2010, which was the catalyst for
developing the country’s experience, infrastructure and facilities as a sports tourism and MICE
destination. Tourvest, the company that handled organizational aspects of the World Cup event,
has gone on to become a major international player in destination management.