A great place and not yet another declining small town: The case of Clarens, South Africa
A great place and not yet another declining small town: The case of Clarens, South Africa

Summary/Abstract: Rural urban migration results in rural decline as well as in congested cities, but how can towns avoid this fate and also intercept these migrants on their way to the cities in search of perceived better opportunities? Tourism development can play a central role in the development of rural areas in South Africa, and Clarens is a success story in this regard. This research investigates what made a tourist town such as Clarens succeed whereas other towns faltered and failed. Data was collected using three different questionnaires: one for each target group to cover a broad spectrum of stakeholders in the tourism milieu of Clarens. The research indicates that allowing multinational enterprises in a small tourist town is something that should be considered carefully because it might disturb a small town’s ambience.

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