Analysis of local economic development (LED) initiated partnership and support services for emerging tourism entrepreneurs in George municipality,Western Cape Province,RSA

The state of partnership and support services provided by the local municipality to the emerging tourism entrepreneurs are keys to the achievement of Local Economic Development (LED) objectives. The tourism industry is seen as one of the key economic sectors that can be used as a strategy to achieve key objectives of LED which are employment creation and poverty alleviation. The tourism industry has grown to become the world's second largest industry over the years. The aim of this study was to analyze Local Economic Development (LED) initiated partnership and support services for emerging tourism entrepreneurs in the George municipality with the objective to determine the impact of the tourism sector in contributing to the achievements of LED objectives. The study was conducted at George municipality of Western Cape Province. The study used both qualitative and quantitative methodology. The data used in the quantitative analysis was collected from 10% of the sample population. Whilst data collected through qualitative methodology was used to explain the outcome of the quantitative method. The test used in analyzing the data was a non-parametric test where the Friedman two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied. The study found that 47.5% of respondents see the overall support by the municipality as poor while 50% of the respondents receive no support from the municipality. In addition, it was found that the respondents regard the state of partnership as average. The study recommends the exposure of tourism entrepreneur's products and services through marketing and promotion as well as training in basic business management and financial management for the entrepreneurs.