Articles (Hospitality, Tourism and Public Relations)
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Item Analysing the travel behaviour of the halal tourist market in South Africa(Vaal University of Technology, 2022-11-30) Basson, R. L.; Labuschagne, V., Dr.; Slabbert, E., Prof.Halal tourism is a form of tourism in compliance with Sharia Law. Travel within the Muslim community is compulsory, according to Sharia, as a mandate for Hajj and Umrah. More Muslims are also travelling for leisure purposes, in addition, to travel for religious purposes. This has resulted in an increasing number of Muslim travellers exploring non-Muslim countries for leisure purposes. The presence of Muslim travellers becomes more evident in South Africa. This resulted in a growing need for the South African tourism industry to comply with the travel needs of the Muslim traveller. The latter instilled a greater interest in researchers, policy makers, the industry, tourism bodies and government on the readiness of South Africa to become a destination of choice for the Muslim traveller, referred to in this study aTourism is one of the leading sectors to drive the South African economy and that of many other countries. The recent global health pandemic, COVID-19, instigated global tourism decision-makers to seize all opportunities to recover from the economic catastrophe. This resulted in a readiness to serve every tourism market. Knowledge of Halal tourism is pertinent for South Africa to reap the benefits of the fast-growing tourism niche market. Halal tourism can contribute significantly to the recovery and growth of the South African and global economies. This study explores the linkage between religion and tourism (for this study, the Islamic religion) and presents a theoretical framework for the concept of Halal tourism.s the Halal tourism market. Religion is a broad definition that shares an interrelation with tourism. This is profound in the Muslim religion, where Hajj is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, which makes clear reference to travel like no other religion. The major destination leading the religious holiday destination is Mecca. The majority of representation of gender was males, the leading role of males in the Muslim community could contribute this. The travel behaviour reflects that the majority of respondents come from families and are married, this might be the high value put on family and marriage within the Muslim community. Reasons for not travelling might be influenced by the higher costs of holidays due to petrol increases and high accommodation rates. The leading Muslim concentrations in South Africa are in Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, East London, Kimberley, Pretoria and Johannesburg. There is a need to increase awareness of the compliance for Halal Tourism and Halal Tourist products in South Africa. Tourism product owners should be sensitised and alerted on the topic of Halal Tourism. It is recommended to conduct future research on the topic of Halal Tourism as a contributor towards the recovery and revitalisation of the global economy to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Further study on Halal tourism will re-affirm, re-calibrate and renew tourism as a leading, growing sector from a South African and global perspective, post-COVID-19.Item Examining corporate reputation management in a local municipality in the Vaal region: a case study(2017-05) Mokaeane, Sibongile Bernadette; Oksiutycz-Munyawiri, A.; Moloi, K. C.BACKGROUND: Corporate reputation refers to an organisation’s past and present action, which has a huge impact on how the organisation is viewed by its internal and external stakeholders. In the context of business organisation, the importance of reputation in public service and government organisations needs to be recognised, especially in South Africa, where many problems are associated with local government. Coupled with this, there has been lack of emphasis on collaborative consultation processes and participation by the communities in matters that affect them. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY: The purpose of this qualitative, interpretive study was to analyse personal experiences of employees at a local municipality, on the management of corporate reputation. Systems theory was adopted as a theoretical framework for the study. METHOD: This research employs a qualitative research method and a case study design. The qualitative research was relevant for this research as it is naturalistic, which is research based in natural settings where communication occurs. The in-depth individual, semi structured interviews enabled the researcher to get rich information from the participants, who are employees of the municipality and work within the broad frame of public relations, communications, event management and marketing. These participants engage with the external stakeholders on events management or on expertise, leadership and management skills with regard to corporate reputation management. RESULTS: The results reveal that management of reputation is probably a multifaceted concept. Hence corporate social responsibility, emotional appeal, financial performance, products and services, vision and leadership and workplace environment all feature but it is unlikely that the participants perceive reputation as separate from image and identity as they use the terms synonymously. The responses reveal that a systems view of an organisation, being social in a social system, indicate that the various components in the internal environment cannot be separated from the external environment as they are continuously and dynamically interacting with one another with corporate communication acting as a ‘glue’, which holds them together. Corporate communication is thus an essential part of the system as it serves to align the organisation’s vision, culture and image that people have of an organisation.Item Implications of rural irrigation schemes on household economy. A case of Lower Gweru irrigation scheme, Zimbabwe.(2016) Dube, KaitanoRural poverty is a major challenge in most developing countries especially in Africa where the majority of people are still living below the poverty datum line. In Zimbabwe, poverty is made more severe by occasional droughts associated with climate change, climate variability and failed socio-economic-political governance. One of the ways to mitigate the impact of drought and prevent deepening poverty is the introduction of small irrigation schemes. However, there is a raging debate on the social and economic viability of these schemes on household livelihood security and income. This paper aims at investigating the socio-economic impacts of Lower Gweru Irrigation project in Zimbabwe. A case study approach was used in this study. Primary data was gathered using self-administered questionnaire and complemented by secondary data. Results demonstrated that rural irrigation has a critical role in ensuring sustainable household and community income. Irrigators fared well regarding wealth accumulation, household food security and quality of life as measured through the use of standardised HDI. In light of the above, there is a need to fund and develop more rural irrigation schemes so as to ensure livelihood security and rural development in Zimbabwe. Keywords: Rural livelihood, Poverty, Climate change, Irrigation, LowerItem Irrigation technology for smallholder farmers: a strategy for achieving household food security in Lower Gweru, Zimbabwe(2015) Dube, Kaitano; Sigauke, E.The problem of food insecurity in developing countries is an enormous challenge. In rural communities, it is a perennial problem that requires undivided attention to ensure household food security. This paper seeks to define the role of rural participation in providing household and community food security with a particular focus on Lower Gweru irrigation project in Zimbabwe. The research comes in light of increased food deficit in Zimbabwe that has been compounded by failed politics, climate change and weather extreme events. Data was gathered using self-administered questionnaires, direct observation and literature review. Data was analysed using the Microsoft Excel 365 ToolPak and Health24 Web Calculator. This paper highlights the importance of rural irrigation schemes in addressing community and household food security and ensuring health nutrition uptake by irrigators and surrounding communities. Rural irrigation systems enable farmers to become net food sellers allowing them to benefit from food price volatility. It also highlights the resultant development and makes recommendations for future irrigation developments