Local Resident Safety in Cape Town Township Tourism

Previous research on safety in tourism were from a tourist perspective. This study used local communities' lenses to investigate safety in township tourism destinations in Cape Town, South Africa. It employed a quantitative method (questionnaire survey) to collect data from 333 respondents (local communities) in Cape Town townships and analysed using inferential statistics (correlation and regression analyses). The findings showed that significant number of local community members attribute tourism-related crime in townships to drug addiction, unemployment, and lack of basic education. The local residents placed a lot of trust on tourism to drive their local economic development and socio-political stability. The study recommends that local governments train local communities on entrepreneurial activities presented by tourism in their areas, so they can be capacitated on how to earn a living without relying on government grants and seeking employment.