ABSTRACT
The rationale of this conceptual chapter lies in addressing the need of any field of knowledge to comprehend itself and to cover the lack of any epistemological consideration in the emergent field of surf tourism research. This work proposes Tribe and Liburd’s (2016) ‘tourism knowledge system’ for increasing the understanding about the relationships amongst disciplines, subjects, the world of surf tourism, and new places where knowledge is being produced and distributed using the case of Cape Town (CT) in South Africa (SA), as a significant surf tourism destination where multiple surfing-related sports (SRSs) are practiced. The case underscores how tourism knowledge is not only inter- and multi-disciplinary, but also ‘transdisciplinary’ through stakeholders’ interaction resulting in the creation of innovative ideas and the implementation thereof. Furthermore, this chapter offers a view that expands the scope of surf tourism knowledge (STK) and therefore the disciplines involved. It also highlights innovation in tourism and urban areas in the global South. Finally, we aspire to open an epistemological debate related to STK in the wider field of sport tourism studies.
