Prof Ernie Heath from the Department of Business Management co-presented a paper and chaired two sessions at the 2015 ATLAS Africa Conference, with the theme ‘Tourism and inclusive growth in developing economies’, held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

At the conclusion of the conference he facilitated an interactive strategic session, involving academics as well as public and private sector stakeholders, to identify and synthesise key future tourism research challenges to enhance inclusive growth in Africa. The top 20 research challenges that were identified included key themes of a multi-disciplinary nature, which also provide opportunities for collaborative research among academic institutions in Africa. According to Prof Heath, he was very much encouraged by the enthusiasm and commitment of colleagues from various African countries, including Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, who are eager to collaborate with South African academics to jointly address these challenges and opportunities.

During August and September 2015 he was also invited to present papers at two industry-specific conferences in the hospitality and golf tourism sectors. At the future-orientated international Tomorrows Hotel Conference held in Mauritius, he presented a paper entitled ‘The dynamically changing global landscape: posing new challenges and opportunities for tourism and hospitality stakeholders in the Indian Ocean region’. At the inaugural Africa Golf Summit, held at Serengeti in Gauteng, he facilitated an interactive panel discussion around the theme ‘A strategic approach to public-private partnerships in developing and executing a national golf tourism agenda’. This culminated in an agreement among delegates on the key priorities to implement a national agenda, which should be underpinned by a strong focus on relevant research as a basis for a sustainable national golf tourism strategy.   

According to Prof Heath, who was the only academic to present papers at these industry-specific conferences, the message from industry stakeholders at both these conferences was clear: they are eager to reach out and collaborate with academic institutions regarding relevant, reliable and timely research to inform future-orientated strategic thinking and to enhance sustainable competitiveness in the tourism and hospitality sectors. By all indications this increasing need for appropriate research, knowledge and intelligence on the part of industry stakeholders is, among others, being driven by the challenges and opportunities being posed by the exponentially changing macro, competitive and market environments and by the levels of disruption (mainly driven by technology) that are taking place in various spheres of the tourism and hospitality industries.