The developmental impacts of backpacker tourism in South Africa

South Africa has recorded considerable growth in tourism activity over the past decade. In the light of the vast range of economic sectors that gain from tourism development, the national government has instituted a range of incentives and initiatives to stimulate tourism development, with the expansion of tourism infrastructure aimed at high-end tourists forming a key component of this strategy. Little investment has, however, been made in tourism infrastructure targeting those markets that prefer to avoid high-end tourism facilities. In this respect backpacker tourists and their preferred accommodation type, backpacker hostels, are a case in point. Despite backpacker tourism being largely ignored in national tourism development initiatives, backpacker tourism is increasingly popular in South Africa. This paper focuses on the recent proliferation of backpacker tourism in this country and seeks to convey the results of the first nation-wide exploration in this regard. The paper has two main objectives. Firstly, it seeks to present broad-ranging empirical data concerning this tourist cohort and their preferred accommodation type- backpacker hostels - in the South African context. Secondly, it aims to demonstrate why backpacker tourists and hostels hold much potential for local development initiatives in South Africa. In the light of the findings of this study, the paper concludes that the expansion of backpacker tourism to this country might form an appropriate means by which to achieve a range of local development objectives.