Feasibility Study of Proposed Tourism Dev in Shewula, NE ...

Chapter 6 - Tourism, Marketing and Business Planning for the proposed Tourism Development
6.1.3.1. Current markets in Swaziland
First time travellers to Southern Africa generally come on a 7 - 14 day trip with the aim
of "getting a taste" of Southern Africa. As a result they tend to travel through
Swaziland on a day bus or with an overnight stop in the Ezulwini Valley. 112 There
could be an opportunity to tap into this market. Second time travellers to Southern
Africa would be from the main international market, but are not part of the mass
market as-most of the first-timers are. They generally are in the small group 113 or selfdrive
market, with more focused itineraries.
Generally, there are two categories of tourists that could be seen as a potential target
market for Shewula. Firstly there are the more general interest travellers (interested in
nature, adventure and culture, i.e. mostly first-time travellers), and secondly, there are
the more specialised, experienced ecocultural tourists who want focused specialised
tours (mostly second-time travellers). However, ecocultural tourists are overall
interested in more than one type of activity. 114 Thus tourism packages with a lot of
varied rural, mountain (and other scenery), conservation and strong cultural
components, would most likely be of interest to the more general ecocultural tourist to
the Shewula area.
The main market to tap into could be the adventure tourists and/or ecocultural tourists
from the lower to middle market travellers. It has been suggested that, from a
community perspective, focusing on the upmarket section of the tourism market is
potentially risky, as the gap between guest and community could be too big to bridge.
It is further suggested that, the simpler the concept, 115 the easier it is to understand
and the easier it is to get community buy-in. 116,117 Bearing this in mind, the proposed
tourism development, if at a small scale, could be used as training and capacitybuilding
tool, with the view to preparing the community for a larger tourism
development in the long-term.
6.1.3.2. The role of the private operator in the tourism and marketing
strategy
A private operator, who is proposed to manage the tourism development on behalf of
the Shewula community, 118 could manage the marketing approach and strategy of the
tourism development, as he/she will be market-driven when managing the proposed
tourism development(s). Therefore, the private operator should be involved in the
planning stages of the tourism development, in order to adapt the concept to the
market, as well as to the assets unique to the area.
To facilitate this input, the call for interest for the private operator should be in parallel
with the initial stages of the concept planning. Then the tender should go out, and the
contract awarded in parallel with the final stages of the concept planning, with the
contracted private operator then helping with the implementation of the tourism
development in Shewula.
1,2
Tess Proos, Marketing Manager, Royal Swazi Sun, Swaziland, pers. comm.
113
A small group can be identified as 6 - 20 people being transported in the variety of microbuses used by tour
operators.
" 4 Jenkins, C.L 1993. op cit.
1,5
This is especially so in terms of the degree of finishing touches required to satisfy the various sections of the
market.
1,8
Darron Raw. Owner, Swazi Trails, Swaziland, pers. comm, (Ceballos-Lascurain,1996, op cit.
1,7
This could be dependent on whether the tourism development constructed will be managed by the community or
by the private operator. If being managed by the private operator, there is possibility that the potential conflict
between the upmarket tourists and the poverty-stricken community members would not be realised. This would need
to be assessed in greater detail.
" 8 See Section 6.2 for further discussion on the proposal.
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