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The use of anointed products such as anointing oil and anointing water within the broader Pentecostal movement in world Christianity has been documented in previous studies. Traditionally, the demand for these products is based on the quest to receive healing and deliverance from sicknesses, barrenness, witchcraft, and so forth. The products are also used to access job placement, promotion, a house, a car, and other material possessions. This paper worked within African Pentecostal spirituality of experience to explore the use of anointed products during Covid-19 lockdown. Regardless of many perceptions and misconceptions about the anointed products, they were used as a point of contact during the Covid-19 lockdown. The paper used Apostle Mohlala Ministries in Cape Town, South Africa as a case study to explore the use of these products during Covid-19 lockdown. The argument in this paper is that these products were used as a substitute for spiritual service during the Covid-19 lockdown. In other words, anointed products became a point of contact when members of these ministries could not meet physically during the Covid-19 lockdown. This changes how Pentecostal scholars study anointed products within the broader Pentecostal movement. Despite their challenges such as commercialization and other abuses, anointed products become a point of contact in Pentecostal spirituality of experience. For the believers that could not attend church during the Covid-19 lockdown, anointed products became a medium to connect spiritually. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to identify the practical and policy-based implications for the South African sport tourism organisations by highlighting strategic approaches to rethinking sport tourism planning and management. A content analysis of published academic and industry papers that focused on disaster management or mitigation within the sport tourism context, within a global and local context were analysed and thematically coded. The results reveal the vulnerability of the sport tourism industry to global threats while highlighting the lack of preparedness of this sector to strategically respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous pandemics and disasters may provide an impetus for rethinking sport event hosting as well as travel and tourism, however not without substantial financial investments and government support. The resilient theory emphasises the synergistic effects of crisis management in sport tourism. This study proposes strategies to guide industry stakeholders towards a research agenda that is based on identified gaps in knowledge within the sport tourism field in order to rethink sport tourism. This paper also contributes to the extant knowledge on crisis management and disaster management by incorporating strategic perspectives of resilient theory. There is significant value to current policies and practices regarding new strategic approaches to crisis management in sport tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sport tourism and its related events have been identified as a unique niche product and South Africa is considered globally as a leading sport event tourism destination. Despite the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sector, it is recognised for its resilience and ability to overcome crises thereby creating employment and assisting economies to recover. For this recovery to effectively take place, recovery strategies, frameworks and policies are now a necessity for the sustainability of South Africa as a sport event tourism destination. The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical review of existing published and unpublished literature sources and policy documents in order to identify the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on sport event tourism in South Africa and to propose directions for recovery strategies going forward, as well as recommendations for future research areas. In doing so, the current paper has found that through adequate recovery policies, strategies and frameworks, sport event tourism in South Africa can effectively be used as a post pandemic tool for urban regeneration, new business opportunities and a range of positive social impacts for host communities. As the sub sector begins to reopen, recovery strategies that include considerations of risk communication, community engagement, risk mitigation and the hosting of hybrid events are essential for its sustainability. For the effective implementation hereof, additional research is needed in the fields of crises in sport event tourism, the use of technology in the sub sector, as well as collaboration in small scale sport event tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the world came to a relative standstill during the initial stages of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, with nearly all countries having enforced some kind of COVID-19 regulations, the global tourism economy was one of the hardest hit. Travel bans and border closures resulted in many tourism businesses having to enter business rescue or shut down indefinitely. This new economic climate forced the tourism economy to imagine a new reality and to consider a negotiation of its revival in a post-pandemic world. Coupled with the impact on tourism itself, the pandemic resulted in a subsequent economic crisis, which unarguably, impacted upon travel, particularly leisure tourism. The South African tourism sector is no exception and will need to explore several avenues in addressing this new status quo. With domestic tourism being a weighty component of many countries' tourism economies, it serves as an important building block for the resurgence of the industry. This is especially the case in a time when uncertainties are particularly prevalent for the re-emergence of international travel. Therefore, domestic tourism in South Africa has been a key starting point as travel restrictions have slowly started to lift, a context, which has been highlighted in current debates amongst South African tourism stakeholders. This paper explores the potential opportunities for opening up tourism to cash-strapped South Africans by specifically addressing their savings and travel cultures and prospects for future travel. The paper presents a desktop review of the recent introduction of savings and payment schemes available to travellers in South Africa, with particular focus on travel stokvels, leisure on lay-by and pay at your pace options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shifting consumer travel preferences in the COVID-19 environment open potential new opportunities for rural tourism. This paper examines the challenges facing the development of rural tourism in a 'left behind' peripheral rural space in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality, Eastern Cape. 20 detailed qualitative interviews with key tourism stakeholders, mainly tourism businesses, are analysed. The key findings point to the structural constraints and limits on rural tourism in many parts of South Africa from the shortcomings of local government. The core constraints upon maximising local tourism assets surround the performance of local government, its inadequate provision and maintenance of local infrastructure (especially roads) as well as of service delivery issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in massive degrowth of tourism economies, undoing years of progress in destinations around the world. The initial inability of tourists to travel and subsequent fall out from border closures, vaccination hurdles, the changing needs of tourists to travel targeted the very core of tourism. Despite the tourism sector being renowned for its resilience in relation to previous crises, the prolonged and unprecedented nature of this crisis has tested the most resilient of sectors. As part of South Africa's tourism sector recovery plan, the domestic tourism sub-sector of the industry has been prioritised. However, even before the pandemic induced crisis, the performance of the domestic tourism sector called for attention. Thus, although disruptive, this crisis provides an opportunity for innovation within the sector. While innovations of virtual tourism could be suitable, an investigation into the willingness of tourists to engage in virtual tourism needs to be undertaken. The current paper seeks to address this gap. A quantitative research design was employed, with a total of 110 online surveys being completed by domestic tourists in South Africa. Key finds reveal that virtual tourism could assist in the promotion of a destination, particularly in the decision making processes of potential tourists, which had been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The study found that virtual tourism could increase the exposure and accessibility of tourism attractions in South Africa. Moreover, the results of the study reveal that while virtual tourism could enhance the tourist experience at the destination, it cannot replace traditional tourism. Recommendations emanating from this study relate to the inclusion of virtual tourism components as add ons to tourism attractions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic is a 'trigger event' which is remoulding new patterns of demand and supply for the tourism sector. For policy makers and destination managers it highlights the potential significance of niche tourism products. South Africa is viewed as fertile terrain for the promotion of different forms of niche tourism. The aim is to investigate international and South African research debates concerning niche tourism. The paper analyses the conceptual development of niche tourism, international debates, the (re-) emergence of niche tourism on the policy agenda of tourism stakeholders in South Africa and the state of existing literature and debates surrounding niche tourism in the country. The article represents a contribution to the growing and vibrant scholarship around niche tourism and change in the global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In emerging tourism scholarship around COVID-19 one of the major clusters of research surrounds issues of adaptation. Tourism businesses are compelled to adapt to shifts in consumer demand as well as government regulatory changes. The objective in this paper is to investigate the responses and adaptations to the impacts of COVID-19 of tourism businesses in South Africa's most tourism-dependent locality. The research reports on 20 qualitative interviews undertaken with a cross-section of tourism enterprises in Bela-Bela Local Municipality, Limpopo province, which is overwhelmingly oriented towards the market of domestic tourism. Major results are local businesses are financially negatively impacted by the subdued nature of domestic leisure travel together with the near total collapse of business travel as well as the imperative to conform to new COVID-19 safety and health protocols. Adaptive responses have included downsizing of businesses, including worker retrenchments, pricecutting, limited initiatives towards product diversification, energetic social media marketing and repurposing of properties. Key challenges for Bela-Bela tourism enterprises relate to immediate financial issues and most especially in the context that minimal support has been provided by national government to assist their business survival. Future business prospects are not viewed favourably such that business closures and a hollowing out of the tourism enterprise base accompanying job losses in tourism appear inevitable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tourism sector in South Africa has experienced the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and in response national government is charting initiatives for a recovery plan. In common with other countries the promotion of domestic tourism is a core focus. Arguably, the magnitude of the pandemic will reshape existing patterns of tourism demand and supply which need to be understood and researched for designing appropriate policy interventions. Against the backcloth of the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for recovery strategies, and the increasing focus on domestic tourism, the aim in this article is to interrogate COVID-19 impacts on the demand-side of tourism looking at changes in consumer demand and of intentions to travel. A desk top review is conducted of research produced by national governments, international organisations and of academic surveys completed in over 20 countries. The research findings are discussed in four themes, namely, (1) risk perceptions and the new tourism psyche; (2) travel intentions and changing mobilities; (3) travel intentions and changing patterns of demand; and, (4) the contactless economy and 'untact' tourism. The paper concludes with eight sets of policy recommendations for South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need to systematically examine emergent literature focusing on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on South African tourism is prompted by the contributions of tourism to the South African economy. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA2020) protocols were used to understand and identify recovery strategies. This systematic review extracted literature from five databases: EBSCOhost, ProQuest, Sabinet, Scopus, and Web of Science. The sifting of identified literature was conducted with the aid of Rayyan, a web-based software, while COVID-19 thematic clusters of tourism research, niche tourism and methodological designs were used to synthesise the literature. Findings revealed disproportionate literature among three major clusters, with gaps in the South Africa niche tourism research. Based on the dominant adoption of qualitative designs of the reviewed literature, this study recommends a set of new tourism research agenda that particularly accentuates tourism recovery and resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impacts of COVID-19 for cities are generating an extensive international scholarship. This study contributes to the literature on the ramifications of urban tourism. The research is an assessment of what might be termed the early stage or 'first round' of the impacts of COVID-19. Using the IHS Global Insight local tourism base for South Africa the study analyses COVID-19 impacts during 2020 for the country's eight metropolitan areas. It reveals the pandemic's devastating impacts for tourism flows and correspondingly the diminished role of tourism in urban economies. An important finding is that South Africa's metropolitan areas experienced a greater proportionate decline in tourism than the recorded national rate of decline. The consequence is a reduction during 2020 in the relative share of metropolitan areas in the South African tourism economy. This implies a reversal of established trends towards polarization and increasing city dominance that have been observed over the previous 20 years. The major burden of the collapse of urban tourism has fallen upon the five largest metropolitan areas which have been severely impacted by government regulations to halt the pandemic and resultant changes in consumer preferences for travel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlike other global natural-, industrial- and intentional disasters of the past, if any impact was felt in South Africa, it was due to uncertainty within the tourism sector and guests being hesitant to travel. COVID-19 has had an economic and catastrophic impact on hospitality businesses, and particularly in the South African hospitality industry, resulting in changes in how the industry operates. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether reactions to lockdown and the subsequent collapse of domestic and international travel should have been approached differently, and what hospitality leaders anticipate for the near future of the industry. The significance of the study is to highlight that better planning should have occurred to have reduced the negative impact of the disaster. Returned emailed qualitative questionnaires from hospitality industry partners provided insight into the weeks before lockdown. The results indicate that there was a contingency plan in place within the larger hospitality operations but the timing was too short to allow adequate implementation. Smaller operations have been the most affected, with losses of contracts, employee incomes, and positions. The economic effects on the operations will require months to resolve, with many smaller operators not being able to survive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study seeks to unpack the implications that the COVID-19 pandemic has placed on the South African domestic tourism market. In particular, the study considers how, given the negative impacts that have been felt with international travel being largely restricted, many destinations who traditionally rely on tourism will approach domestic tourism post the restrictions. Given South Africa's previous aggressive campaigns which sought to promote domestic tourism in the country, the value of this focus area cannot be overlooked. The need for empirical research that assesses the attitudes of people regarding travel and tourism beyond the pandemic in a country that has been one of the hardest-hit on the African continent is equally important in this respect. Data for the study was sourced from interviews with key informant personnel in the domain of tourism coupled with an online questionnaire survey that was collected from respondents through the Google Forms Application. The key findings from the study reveal that a majority of the respondents were generally satisfied with the management of the pandemic in the country and were willing to wait until all restrictions were lifted before travelling again. Moreover, many of the respondents felt that they would likely travel more domestically in order to assist the tourism industry recover post-COVID-19 and would actively help market the country to friends and relatives in assisting with the recovery marketing initiatives. However, major concerns were raised about the financial possibilities of the domestic tourists as well as the lack of effective communication and cooperation between the private sector and the government regarding tourism's recovery plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]