ABSTRACT
This chapter examines certain major policy debates concerning the development of South Africa's tourism economy and to highlight issues surrounding the country's changing economic geography. It discusses the leading themes in the shifting national policy environment for tourism. Nature tourism is a further critical area for expansion that is linked to poverty alleviation in many rural areas. The introduction of various new forms of ownership and institutional arrangements for tourism projects is a final vital aspect for poverty alleviation. The promotion of new tourism growth and investment in tourism plant and product development is of central importance, not least for achieving certain goals of poverty alleviation. Another key element in transforming the spatial structure of the South African tourism economy is maximisation of the impacts of local-level initiatives for tourism-led economic development.
