ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book analyzes the tourism research issues, as well as tourist visitor trends in the urban areas of South Africa. It argues that in the South African context, urban tourism, though vast in its actual proportion, has in large part remained invisible to the scholarly gaze. The book highlights the analysis falls on the national level, with the presentation of a series of thematic issues concerning the South African urban tourism system. The theme of business tourism in urban Africa is explored through an analysis of the evolution and growth of conference and exhibition tourism. The book explores comprehensive overview of the nature and prevalence of festival tourism in South Africa. It discusses the investigatory gaze shifts to the collective impact of different types of urban tourism experiences on cities and towns across the South African urban hierarchy.
