UCT study shows most township tourists feel safe

A ground–breaking study by UCT students of township tourism in the Western Cape has found that the majority of tourists feel safe when visiting a township. 

Students Michael Kramer and Constandino Vichos‚ who were supervised by Associate Professor Richard George‚ convenor of the dynamic Tourism and Events Management Course ‚ said this was the first study to focus on tourists’ perceptions of safety and security while experiencing a township tour. 

Township tourism has become increasingly popular 1994 with more than 300,000 tourists taking part in township tours in Cape Town per year. However concerns about personal safety have continued to dog the sector. 

The UCT study was conducted between June and August 2013 and 317 tourists from 23 countries were interviewed. 

Data was collected from 44 township tour operators who were given questionnaires to hand to tourists‚ an online questionnaire ‚ distribution of the survey at Cape Town hotels and fieldwork at a popular township endpoint ‚ Mzoli’s Restaurant in Gugulethu. 

The study found that 73% of tourists felt safe while experiencing a township tour in the Western Cape. In addition‚ 83% of tourists were satisfied with the township tour that they experienced and roughly the same percentage would recommend a township tour to others. 

Prof. Richard noted: "This ground –breaking study should help to grow the township tourism sector‚ as it provides a fresh perspective on how tourists experience and perceive the warmth of Western Cape township life. " 

Prof. George is the convenor of the increasingly popular Postgraduate Diploma in Management (Tourism and Events Management) in the Faculty of Commerce at UCT and the study extends previous studies by Prof. George. 

He can be contacted at  Richard.George(at)uct.ac.za

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