Abstract

ADEGUNLOYE, Ife Omotayo  and  WISSINK, Henry Frank. Factors constraining the growth of tourism-based small, medium and micro-sized enterprises within the Durban Aerotropolis. JCMAN [online]. 2024, vol.21, n.1, pp.324-353. ISSN 1815-7440.  https://doi.org/10.35683/jcman1058.256.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: The development of the Durban Aerotropolis (DA) is one of the major catalytic projects the provincial government has adopted to propel growth within the province. It aims to enhance international connectivity, promote economic mediation, and strengthen aviation-enabled trade for competitive trade, employment generation, and socio-economic profitability. A catalyst that would make this objective a success is small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMMEs) in the tourism sector. This study proposes to address how tourism-based small, medium and micro-sized enterprises (TB-SMMEs) can contribute towards the success of the DA by assessing and addressing the factors that hinder TB-SMME development as one of the major strategies for economic development. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: The utility of the pragmatist research philosophy is more appropriate to understand the factors that can restrict the TB-SMMEs in generating employment within the proposed DA while utilising numerical data. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches to this research were adopted, and questionnaires were distributed among the TB-SMMEs within the Durban Aerotropolis; 183 questionnaires were returned, and descriptive statistics were employed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 26. FINDINGS: The study revealed several factors that could impede the growth of TB-SMMEs in the proposed Durban Aerotropolis, including high crime rates, skills shortages, insufficient funding, limited innovation, inadequate knowledge sharing, weak understanding of environmental challenges, poor infrastructure, government regulations, and rural isolation. MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS: The study recommends the upgrade of technology infrastructure among the TB-SMMEs, provision of adequate infrastructural amenities, improvement of skills among the TB-SMMEs, better funding, mitigation of crime, review of regulation and constant promotion of DA and the activities of the TB-SMMEs. JEL CLASSIFICATION: R58

Keywords : Constraint; Durban Aerotropolis (DA); Medium and Micro-Sized Enterprises (TB-SMMEs); SMMEs; Tourism-Based Small.

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