Tourism, local economic development and inclusion: Evidence from Overstrand Local Municipality, South Africa

A critical focus within the growing scholarship around tourism development and planning is that of tourism and local economic development (LED) planning. This paper investigates the nexus of tourism and LED planning in South Africa. Arguably, South Africa provides fertile territory for exploring this relationship because of the national importance of tourism for the economy as a whole and of a policy commitment by national government to the support of sub-national development planning. Evidence is presented from the Overstrand Local Municipality in the Western Cape, one of many small towns where tourism is a critical local economic driver. The evidence shows that tourism expansion can contribute to enhanced growth of the local economy as well as job creation for local communities. This said, the existing ownership structure of the local tourism economy is massively weighted to white entrepreneurs such that the local tourism economy cannot be described as inclusive.