A critical assessment of responsible tourism practices: a case study of Stormsriver adventures

The research problem was based on the private sector implementation of Responsible Tourism, since 1996, perceived to be slow and challenging (Frey & George, 2010: 107). The South Africa Government proposed Responsible Tourism as the guiding principle for sustainable tourism development (Goodwin, 2011: 138). The problem is compounded by shortcomings identified in the nature of the research conducted about tourism and communities and the methodologies used. Tourism-Community relationships Theory was applied as the conceptual framework of the study. This theory advocates a holistic approach when conducting research about the impacts of tourism, encompassing community perspectives, attitudes, reactions and considerations for the future development and control of tourism (Pearce, Moscardo & Ross, 1996: 2). The insights gained contributed an emic understanding of the keyinformants’ perspectives imparted in their own language. This study is located in the Interpretevist paradigm, underpinned by Constructivist philosophy. Meaning is created through the reality of key-informants, their perspectives and the interaction of individuals in a community (Cresswell, 2014: 8). The Instrumental Case Study Approach (Stake, 1995) contributed an etic perspective in terms of the researcher’s interpretations. The single, qualitative case was applied to gain deeper insights about the phenomenon of Responsible tourism. The case investigated was Stormsriver Adventures (SRA), an eco-adventure tourism business in the Tsitsikamma tourism destination in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa. SRA is reputed to be business best practice in its implementation of Responsible Tourism. Data triangulation was established through multiple methods of data collection, namely in-depth interviews with key-informants, documentation sourced from them and researcher observation. Data analysis methods, namely direct interpretation, categorical aggregation, pattern seeking and naturalistic generalisations (Stake, 1995), were used. The member checking process assisted with establishing data triangulation as keyinformants corroborated or dispelled the researcher’s interpretation of data. Findings were structured according to within-case themes, namely SRA’s perspective of its Responsible Tourism practices, the community’s perspective of SRA’s Responsible Tourism practices and perspectives about the future development and control of tourism. The study contributes new theoretical insights through applying the inductive approach to selected findings. Findings indicate that the perspectives of the community are divided. SRA keyinformants conveyed positive economic, social and environmental impacts of SRA’s Responsible Tourism practices. Key-informants not directly linked to SRA raised negative economic impacts and questioned the accuracy of SRA’s marketing messages. Within-case conclusions are that it is not the responsibility of one tourism business that practices Responsible Tourism to achieve sustainability within the tourism destination. To this end it is recommended that SRA and the community find common ground and that the misunderstandings that exist, be addressed. The study concludes that in order to achieve successful Responsible Tourism- Community Relationships, a holistically and integrated approach is required. To this end the recommendations made provide an implementation framework within the context of a tourism destination. The study adds value to the field knowledge about the implementation of Responsible Tourism by the private sector in South Africa and also contributes new knowledge to the field of tourism in terms of the particular methodology used