CONTACT DETAILS
Dr. Mathilda van Niekerk
University of Central Florida
Rosen College of Hospitality Management
9907 Universal Blvd
Orlando
Florida
32819
Email: Mathilda.vanniekerk@ucf.edu
Tel: (+1) 407 903 8052
Fax: (+1) 407 903 8105
Dr Edwin Torres
University of Central Florida
Rosen College of Hospitality Management
9907 Universal Blvd
Orlando
Florida
32819
Email: Edwin.torres@ucf.edu
Tel: (+1) 407 903 8103
Fax: (+1) 407 903 8105
Prof. Fevzi Okumus
University of Central Florida
Rosen College of Hospitality Management
9907 Universal Blvd
Orlando
Florida
32819
Email: Fevzi.okumus@ucf.edu
Tel: (+1) 407 903 8177
Fax: (+1) 407 903 8105
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TITLE
CREATING TOURISM AWARENESS THROUGH INTRODUCING TOURISM AS A
HIGH SCHOOL SUBJECT: EMPIRICAL FINDINGS FROM SOUTH AFRICA
ABSTRACT
The research aims to investigate whether tourism awareness can be created through
introducing tourism as a subject in high schools in South Africa. It also explores if
taking tourism as a high school subject will have an effect on the travel patterns of
students and their parents, and if it can stimulate students to pursue a career in the
tourism industry.
Travel and tourism is one of the world’s largest industry and account for 9% of the
global GDP (WTTC, 2011). According to Tourism Towards 2030, the number of
international tourist arrivals is predicted to increase with an average of 3.3% a year
for the next 20 years (UNWTO, 2012). Although there was only a slight increase
(1%) of international tourist arrivals to Africa, South Africa in particular has
maintained its positive trend of growth over the past few years. The successful
growth is the result of the fact that South Africa has recognized the potential of travel
and tourism and has earmarked it as a key economic sector, with a high potential for
growth specifically in its domestic market (National Department of Tourism, 2012). It
has been argued that creating tourism awareness amongst all South Africans will
mobilize them to purchase tourism products and assist in strengthening the domestic
market, which already comprises 67% of the total market (GCIS, 2012).
It is however important to understand how tourism awareness is created and how
consumers make decisions to buy tourism products. The first stage of the buying
process is to create awareness of the tourism product (Cunningham et. al, 2005;
Kotler et. al., 1996; Kotler & Keller, 2009). Awareness may be defined as a situation
in which the consumer have become aware of the new product, but still need some
information about it (Kotler et. al., 1996). Although many tools exist to create
awareness, one way of creating awareness is to introduce tourism as a high school
subject. The goal of tourism in high schools was therefore to familiarize students with
the concept of tourism and to trigger interest in the study field, especially since South
Africa has such a vast potential for domestic tourism growth (Department of
Education, 2003; Jafari & Ritchie, 1981).
Based on a literature review, a questionnaire was developed. It was then distributed
to Grade 11 students in 10 randomly selected high schools in South Africa. Two
groups of students were selected; the experimental group (n=250) was the group of
students who took tourism as a high school subject. The control group (n=250) was
the group of students who did not take tourism as a high school subject. Parents
(n=500) of both the experimental group and control group were given a separate
questionnaire to complete and return to the school. A total of 893 questionnaires
were received back ensuring a response rate of 79%. Of the 500 high school
students who were given the questionnaire, 207 students participated in the study
from the experimental group who studied tourism as a high school subject, 192
students participated in the study from the control group who did not study tourism as
a high school subject. Among 500 parents, 192 parents participated in the study
whose children studied tourism as a high school subject and 198 parents participated
in the study whose children did not study tourism as a high school subject.
Descriptive data revealed that the domestic travel patterns’ of those parents whose
children studied tourism as a high school subject are more influenced by their
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children than those parents of students who did not study tourism as a high school
subject. The parents whose children studied tourism were more aware of new
tourism attractions and were willing to explored new tourism destinations. Parents
whose children studied tourism had also indicated that their children were requesting
them to visit various tourism destinations and according to the study findings, their
tendency was higher to visit such tourism destinations. The parents have indicated
that they were more aware of the tourism industry as a whole then before. It was also
found that 70% of students who studied tourism as a high school subject were likely
to pursue a career in the tourism industry.
A factor analysis was employed to determine the most important aspects of a trip.
Five factors were identified namely: “(1) facilities, (2) quality of the tourist facilities, (3)
family togetherness, (4) motivation to travel and (5) exploring”. According to the
Cronbach Alpha test results, the factors were found reliable. A t-test then determined
the effect sizes between the parents whose children studied tourism as a high school
subject and those whose children do not study tourism as a high school subject. Of
the five factors, three indicated small differences among parents whose children
have tourism as a high school subject (facilities, quality of tourist attractions and
motivation to travel). The third factor “family togetherness” showed a medium effect,
which indicates that tourism is bringing families back together. The fifth factor that
was identified “exploring” indicated a medium effect size. Parent whose children
studied tourism were looking for new tourism products and were exploring South
Africa more.
A major finding of this study is therefore that tourism as a high school subject can
create awareness not only among the students who studied tourism but also among
their parents. What was more interesting is that this creation of awareness may start
influencing the travel patterns of the parents and their children. Introducing tourism
as a high school subject in other countries can be considered as a way of creating
tourism awareness and to stimulate the tourism industry as a whole. If tourism can
be introduced at a younger age students would be more aware of the tourism
industry and might stimulate them to pursue a career in the industry. This can
potentially lead to managers and employees that are prepared from an early age to
assume their roles within the tourism industry.
Keywords: awareness, tourism as high school subject, tourism education, buying
process
REFERENCES
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