The Importance Of Tourism Development

Municipalities have the national mandate to promote tourism development within their areas with an aim of bringing a positive social change, for example, job creation and infrastructural development. This notion of development is also advocated by the White Paper on Environmental Management (DEAT 1997), which sees development as the process of improving human well-being through a reallocation of resources that involves some modification of environment. Therefore the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality has the mandate to promote tourism development by using the assets that fall under its jurisdiction. Tourism continues to be a growing part of the economy and is currently the largest exporter and has surpassed gold as a foreign exchange

The need to ensure passenger safety has led not to licensing of airlines and other forms of public transport, but also of tour operators and travel agencies. Perhaps the most common form of government supervision of the tourism industry in all countries is in the hotel industry, where compulsory registration and grading is imposed in many countries.

3) Direct Ownership of Components of the Tourism Industry

Some governments own parks, airlines and airports, galleries, museums, historic sites, streets and highways railways, buses, harbors and ferries, subways, hotels, resorts, swimming pools, golf course, and even liquor stores, so as to facilitate the development of the tourism industry.

4) Promoting Tourism to Home and Overseas Markets

Government produces and distributes maps, charts, and tourism literature; operate information centers; advertise, organize sales promotion and public relations activities directed at home and overseas markets. Government attempts to increase tourism growth by effective marketing, concentrating their publicity on less popular attraction or geographical regions and doing more promotional work during

access to information);

 Promoting partnerships between the public and private sector;

 Maintenance of the natural environment;

 Political will to support the sector Local Government also has significant impact not only the business environment but also on the natural and cultural resources in and around tourism destinations; for example:

 Municipal roads, lighting, water and sewerage, public transport systems, signs, and, at times, airports and ports.

 The provision of visitor information and funding regional and local tourism