The Evolution of Promotional Marketing Strategies of Tourism Businesses in South Africa - Post Covid-19

The impact of the lockdown restrictions and travel bans, locally and internationally, have had an immense impact on tourism businesses in South Africa. Several Tourism businesses closed during the lockdown, and those that survived are making a slow recovery. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the promotional strategies used by tourism businesses prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as promotional strategies used during the pandemic. The methodology employed is a secondary data analysis of desktop research. The researcher expands on a former study conducted with tourism businesses based in Durban, South Africa. Results reveal that the tourism industry mostly used traditional promotional strategies prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, the Covid-19 pandemic had a direct impact on 100 percent of the sample. However, during the pandemic, the tourism sector shifted drastically from traditional promotional strategies to digital strategies. The implications of the study reveal that businesses need to understand how digital marketing tools can be utilised to reach their full potential post-Covid19. The study stimulates the need for tourism businesses to constantly evaluate and re-evaluate their promotional strategies