The study done by Kelly Summerfield focuses on the influence of South Africa’s brand and image as influencing factors during international tourists’ decision-making process to visit the country. The research focus of the study done by Rentia van der Walt is wider and explores the relative importance of varied indicators (such as safety and security, infrastructure, product offering, etc) among different segments of the international inbound market when deciding to visit South Africa.

Both these studies aim to contribute to a deeper understanding of the role that these indicators of competitiveness play among members of the country’s international target markets. Such an understanding may lead to the development of more accurate measurements of the true performance of market-related indicators within a wider measurement model of destination competitiveness.

Kelly Summerfield, masters degree student in Tourism Management.