Nothing small about them: Advancing small-town tourism through route development

Tourism is growing globally, and tourist destinations need to keep evolving. The South African tourism sector shows a similar trend. The objective of this study was to investigate whether small-town tourism could potentially be advanced through route tourism development. This study utilized case study research design and adopted a qualitative research approach and is grounded in the philosophical perspective of interpretivism. Semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data, and thematic analysis was applied. Seven small towns situated in the Free State province served as case study, and data was collected from 15 participants. The findings suggest that there is a need to develop a small-town tourism heritage route and recommend that a framework for route tourism development developed by Proos be utilized as a basis for the development. The framework stresses the importance of social interaction, and involvement of key stakeholders. A small-town tourism heritage route could bring much-needed visitors to a region, thus revitalizing small towns and presenting economic and social benefits. The participants stressed the importance of functioning infrastructure, and dedicated marketing initiatives. This research has numerous practical implications, and the findings could serve as guidelines for other regions considering small-town advancement through route development.