Tourism Accommodation in Mangaung: Current Dynamics, Immediate Challenges and Future Prospects

Tourism is currently one of the world’s fastest growing industries (Cluster Consortium,1999). The phenomenal growth of tourism worldwide has led to tourism becoming big business and highly considered by governments as part of their developmental strategies. Tourism is able to create local jobs, empowers communities and distribute income are some of the reasons that both private and public sector players want to attract tourism to their destinations. For the purposes of the envisaged research, accommodation shall be the focus of the research within the Mangaung municipal area in the Free State Province. ‘’The tourist economy of Bloemfontein is dominated by the tourist accommodation sector. In addition, this sector comprises mainly guesthouses and bed-and-breakfast establishments’’ Visser (2007:356). Bloemfontein is at the centre of the tourist system in the Free State as the centre of the government, and business. The accommodation sector is very important to the tourism industry because it serves as a supporting product to the tourism destinations which are the core product. Accommodation provides a necessary facility that makes it possible, convenient, and comfortable to engage in the primary reason for travel (George, 2008). Accommodation is a supporting service to the primary reason for visiting a destination area. ‘’Accommodation provision in cities as elsewhere is a major influence on the volume and value of tourism o any locality. Accommodation should therefore precede any other type of development at a tourist destination’’ Nuntsu et al (2004:516).The availability of a range of types of accommodation is important for the competitiveness of a destination area as tourists would compare destinations each other also considering the destination amenities before deciding to travel to one destination at the expense of another. This therefore means that the availability of accommodation is one of the influencers on the motivation to travel to a certain destination area. This research study will unpack the challenges, opportunities and threats to the accommodation industry located in Mangaung that includes the city of Bloemfontein and the towns of Botshabelo and Thaba ‘Nchu.