Tourism Competitiveness and Sustainability Indicators in the Context of Surf Tourism: The Case of Cape Town

Roberto Martín-González, Kamilla Swart and Ana-María Luque-Gil
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Roberto Martín-González: Faculty of Tourism, University of Málaga, Campus de Teatinos s/n, 29071 Málaga, Spain
Kamilla Swart: Division of Engineering Management and Decision Sciences, College of Science and Engineering, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Education City, Qatar Foundation, Doha 24404, Qatar
Ana-María Luque-Gil: Faculty of Tourism, University of Málaga, Campus de Teatinos s/n, 29071 Málaga, Spain

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 13, 1-22

Abstract: Sport tourism has experienced considerable growth in the last decades, either from the sport events perspective or considering an active sport tourism approach. Therefore, some emergent market niches like surf tourism have been developed in numerous coastal destinations to attract sustainability-sensitive tourists due to the ongoing environmental challenges and the socio-economic crisis. Cape Town is positioned in a prominent place in terms of competitiveness, with a considerable variety of beaches and surf spots facing multiple issues. The aim of this study is to try to identify the most competitive beaches and subdistricts in terms of sustainability and to suggest criteria for surf-tourism-related indicators to obtain an overview about this space, using weighting indicators, and applying geography and political economy lenses. The results reveal that Strand, Table View, and Surfers’ Corner are the most competitive beaches. Additionally, beaches located in some underprivileged areas such as Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha are potentially interesting from a socio-economic development point of view, although they show a lack of accommodation infrastructures. These results seem to indicate that those areas should be closely monitored, and destination managers should focus their attention and finance there to obtain a more sustainable surf tourism development.

Keywords: sport tourism; surf tourism; tourism competitiveness indicators; sustainable tourism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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