5.3 Tour operators
5.3.2 Profile of respondent
Figure 5.6 Number of workers employed by tour companies (n=10 in each Park)
Ezulwini - x=17 Tala - x=14
From Figure 5.6 it is evident that at Ezulwini Private Park half of the tour operating companies employed 21 to 30 workers, 20% of the tour operating companies employed 1 to 5 workers and the remaining 10% each of the tour operating companies employed 6 to 10 workers, 11 to 15 workers and 16 to 20 workers. At the Tala Private Park, 30% of the tour operating companies employed 21 to 30 workers, 30% of the tour operating companies employed 11 to 15 workers and the remaining 20% employed 1-5 workers and 6-10 workers each. The average number of workers employed by the tour operating company that conducts tours to Ezulwini Private Park was 17 (ranging from 1 to 30 ) whereas the average number of workers employed by the tour operating company that conducts tours to Tala Private Park was 14 (ranging from 1 to 30). None of the workers employed by the tour operating companies that tour Ezulwini Private Park and Tala Private Park belonged to the local community. Thus job creation linked to tour operators was lacking for the local communities living near the private Parks.
strategies employed and number of trips taken per month; problems experienced in relation to the tour business and ways to promote more business.
Table 5.37 Type of environmental and tourism studies undertaken (in %) Environmental and tourism studies Ezulwini
(n=10)
Tala (n=10)
Total (n=20)
Accredited tour guide courses 30 - 15
Self-learning 40 60 50
Technical 30 20 25
University - 20 10
Whinney (1996) emphasise that the tourism industry relies heavily on personnel who can deliver a high standard of service, have good communication and interpersonal skills and as such Black et al. (2001: 151) recommend:
At a personal level, training may improve an individual guide’s employment prospects and career opportunities and enhance their levels of pay and conditions of work. At an industry-wide level, training helps to lift standards and improve the quality of the tourism product and thus the competitive advantage of regions and destinations.
Results from this study indicate that at the Ezulwini Private Park, 40% of the respondents engaged in self learning and 30% each of the respondents registered for accredited tour guide courses and obtained technical qualifications. In Tala Private Park 60% of the respondents were self taught and 20% of the respondents obtained either a technical or university qualification in environmental and tourism studies (Table 5.37). In contrast to the investigations carried out in this study, Nemasetoni (2005: 203) observed in her study:
On the whole, respondents were well educated and over 70% of the sample had completed post-secondary school qualifications, including a number with University degrees. Moreover, nearly 80% of the sample had undertaken accredited training courses in tourism as tour guides, which is one of the formal requirements for a tour operator.
The tour operating companies had to create opportunities such as bursary schemes or an increase in salary for those employees who try to either obtain university, technical or accredited tour guide courses rather than relying more towards being self-taught. This is an important aspect to
consider in terms of training tour operators in South Africa. Clearly, their training needs to be supported, especially in terms of funding.
Table 5.38 Type of the tour operating company (in %)
Type of tour operating company Ezulwini
(n=10)
Tala (n=10)
Total (n=20)
Operators that sell nature 80 80 80
Sensitive tour operators 20 10 15
Initiate conservation projects or research - 10 5
Table 5.38 shows that at the Ezulwini Private Park and Tala Private Park, the majority of the respondents (80%) described their tour company as operators that sell nature. The remaining 20% of the respondents at the Ezulwini Private Park described their tour operating company as being sensitive tour operators. In Tala Private Park one of the respondents each stated that their tour companies were either sensitive tour operators or tour operators that make an effort to initiate conservation projects. In this study, the majority of the tour operators are market-driven (that is operators that sell nature) and it is therefore imperative that they realise the potential negative impacts that may occur as a result of over-exploitation. Research by Buckley (2003) alluded to the potential benefits of sensitive tour operators as compared to tour operators who sell nature. Their case study conducted in New Zealand focused on the Adrift tour company that required the burning or removing of all non-biodegradable waste, the use of gas stoves rather than local firewood, hiring of local transport and locally purchasing supplies. The results from this study show that the commodification of nature remains the key driving force for tour operators which are of concern.
Table 5.39 Types of tours offered by tour operating company (in %)
Package tours Ezulwini
(n=10)
Tala (n=10)
Total (n=20)
Nature tours
Yes 100 80 90
No - 20 10
Culture tours
Yes 100 60 80
No - 40 20
Adventure tours
Yes 100 70 85
No - 30 15
Honeymoon tours
Yes - 10 5
No 100 90 95
Sport tours
Yes - 20 10
No 100 80 90
Packaged tours are frequently offered by tour companies (Wearing and McDonald, 2002).
Respondents from Ezulwini Private Park stated that all the tour operating companies offered nature tours, cultural tours and adventure tours (Table 5.39). Similarly, the majority of the respondents from Tala Private Park stated that nature tours (80%), adventure tours (70%) and cultural tours (60%) were available. Additionally, at Tala Private Park some tour companies offered sport tours (20%) and honeymoon tours (10%). The results show that a range of different types of tours are offered by the same company, demonstrating attempts by the tour operators to diversify their products and market themselves more widely.
Table 5.40 Age category of clients and profession (in %) Age category of clients Ezulwini
(n=10)
Tala (n=10)
Total (n=20)
11-20 years - 10 5
41-50 years 40 40 40
51-60 years 60 50 55
Professional
Student 10 10 10
Professional 60 70 65
Retired 30 20 25
Ezulwini Private Park respondents stated that 60% of their clients fall within the age category of 51 to 60 years and the balance of the respondents stated that their clients fall within the age category of 41 to 50 years (40%). Similarly, at the Tala Private Park, respondents stated that half of their clients fall within the age category of 51-60 years, 40% of their clients fall within the age category of 41-50 years and 10% of their clients fall within the age category of 11-20 years (Table 5.40). With respect to the professional status of their clients respondents at both Parks stated that the majority of their clients were professionals. Additionally, respondents at the Ezulwini Private Park stated that 30% of their clientele were retired while at the Tala Private Park the respondents stated that 20% of their clientele were retired. The results reveal that those visitors who were touring can afford the privilege of travelling. However, this is in contradiction to visitor respondents of Ezulwini Private Park and Tala Private Park (Table 5.5). From Table 5.5 it is clear that the majority of the visitor respondents (42%) of Ezulwini Private Park belonged to the age category of 22-30 years and the majority of the visitor respondents (34%) of Tala Private Park belonged to the age category of 31-40 years. The differences could be attributed to the fact that while the visitor survey included day-trippers, the tour operators almost exclusively deal with tourists and especially those that are from the higher income categories that can afford to use the tour operators and who tend to be older.
Table 5.41 Means of marketing (in %)
International Ezulwini (n=10)
Tala (n=10)
Total (n=20)
Travel brochures 10 10 10
Word of mouth 50 40 45
Internet 20 20 20
Printed media 10 20 15
Trade shows 10 10 10
National
Television - 10 5
Travel brochures 10 10 10
Word of mouth 40 30 35
Internet 30 30 30
Printed media 10 10 10
Tourism Indaba 10 10 10
Based on the tour companies surveyed at the Ezulwini Private Park and Tala Private Park, international and national marketing efforts follow a similar trend. More specifically, companies at both Parks depended predominantly on word of mouth and the internet for local and international marketing. It is interesting to note that only 10% of the tour companies were involved in marketing campaigns at international trade shows and local tourism indabas. These findings were similar to Chellan’s (2005) who found that tour operating companies visiting the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park reported that their main means of marketing were word of mouth, both internationally and nationally. Tour operators identified similar types of marketing strategies as those used by the visitors interviewed (Table 5.19). Word of mouth and the internet were deemed to be important by both stakeholders.
Table 5.42 Number of years respondents were conducting tours (in %)
Operate tours Ezulwini
(n=10)
Tala (n=10)
Total (n=20)
1-5 years 60 70 65
6-10 years 20 10 15
11-15 years - 20 10
16-20 years 20 - 10
x=7 x=5.5 x=6.3
The majority of the tour operators were conducting tours for less than five years at the Ezulwini Private Park (60%) and the Tala Private Park (70%). Additionally, 20% of the respondents at Ezulwini Private Park and 10% of the respondents at the Tala Private Park stated that they were conducting tours between 5 to 10 years. Only, 20% of the respondents at the Ezulwini Private Park were conducting tours for more than 15 years (Table 5.42). The average number of years that the respondents conduct tours to Ezulwini Private Park was 7 years (ranging from 1 to 20 years) whereas the average number of years that the respondents conduct tours to Tala Private Park was 5.5 years (ranging from 1 to 15 years).