The Impact of COVID-19 on Safari Lodges in Northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Q2 Social Sciences

African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Pub Date : 2021-12-15 DOI:10.46222/ajhtl.19770720.186

G. Visser, Maryke Marais

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

This investigation explores the impacts of COVID-19 on safari lodge operators in the northern districts of Zululand and uMkhanyakude in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The area in which these lodges are located is a renowned leading safari lodge destination. This investigation is structured into four core sections. Firstly, brief insights into current debates concerning the influence of COVID-19 on tourism generally are provided. Secondly, the impact of COVID-19 on visitor profiles of safari lodges is analysed. Thirdly, the impact of COVID-19 on the functioning and operations of these safari lodges is examined. Fourthly and finally, the coping mechanisms implemented by the safari lodges are presented. The research deployed snowball sampling and conducted in-person interviews using a semi-structured questionnaire. The study reveals that this tourism subsector, like other tourism subsectors globally, suffered greatly as a result of COVID-19. Various adjustments to its operations had to be implemented in order to survive. These adjustments included scaling back operations, cutting costs wherever possible and drastically reducing staff. Additionally, many lodges tried to compensate for a lack of incoming international tourists by attracting local tourists by offering deep discounts. However, low levels of disposable income among South Africans means that this is not a long-term sustainable strategy. Future uncertainty was a key concern for safari lodge operations.

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2019冠状病毒病对南非夸祖鲁-纳塔尔省北部狩猎小屋的影响

本调查探讨了2019冠状病毒病对南非夸祖鲁-纳塔尔省祖鲁兰和乌姆汉亚库德北部地区游猎旅馆经营者的影响。这些小屋所在的地区是著名的狩猎小屋目的地。本调查分为四个核心部分。首先，本文简要介绍了当前关于COVID-19对旅游业影响的争论。其次，分析2019冠状病毒病对游猎小屋游客构成的影响。第三，研究了2019冠状病毒病对这些狩猎小屋功能和运营的影响。最后，介绍了野生动物园的应对机制。该研究采用滚雪球抽样，并使用半结构化问卷进行了面对面访谈。该研究表明，与全球其他旅游分行业一样，该旅游分行业受到COVID-19的严重影响。为了生存，必须对其业务进行各种调整。这些调整包括缩减业务、尽可能削减成本和大幅度裁减工作人员。此外，许多旅馆试图通过提供大幅折扣来吸引当地游客，以弥补国际游客的缺乏。然而，南非人的可支配收入水平较低，这意味着这不是一个长期可持续的战略。未来的不确定性是狩猎小屋运营的一个关键问题。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Social Sciences-Geography, Planning and Development

CiteScore

2.70

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

8 weeks

期刊介绍： AJHTL is a proudly African, independent, privately owned multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal, not aligned to any institution which is published quarterly. We encourage academic debate and are fully electronic and dedicated to increasing the depth of research across a range of related disciplines with the primary objective of promoting research. New researchers are especially welcome to submit articles to us for consideration. Our articles are read by scholars, students and industry globally. Only authors may submit a paper for review and only original research is considered for publication. Articles that have been either published elsewhere or which are currently considered for publication elsewhere, must not be submitted for reviewing. A journal publication might take from about one month up to one nine months to appear. The reviewing process is competitive with less than 69% of papers considered finally being accepted for publication. Authors must be certain that their paper meets the academic standards of rigorous scholarly research. Authors must have reviewed and cited the critical and recent English references that relate to the research paper. Where other language references are used these must be translated. Articles must be English language edited by authors prior to submission to the journal.