Every year, millions of tourists enter the Kruger National Park through Mpumalanga province, generating significant revenue for South Africa’s tourism sector.
Yet just outside the park’s gates, many local businesses say they remain spectators in an economy that moves around them, not through them.
Now, the provincial government is betting on a new tourism route linking Skukuza, the park’s main camp to God’s Window via Hazyview to change that dynamic. The ambition is to stretch tourist movement beyond wildlife viewing and into surrounding towns, where accommodation providers, transport operators, craft sellers and cultural enterprises are waiting for a share of the market.
From destination to economic ecosystem
According to South African Tourism, tourism remains one of the country’s key economic drivers, but its benefits are unevenly distributed across regions and communities.
Sibonga Ntshona, owner of The Prince Guesthouse, reflects on the growth of inclusive tourism.
“If tourism is going to contribute meaningfully to economic growth and job creation, it cannot remain concentrated in a few established destinations. It has to be deliberately expanded so that local businesses and communities are actively included in the value chain, rather than positioned on the sidelines,” argued Ntshona.
The new route signals a shift from a single-attraction model, in which Kruger dominates, to a broader tourism ecosystem designed to capture more value across the province.
In Hazyview, a key gateway town, the gap between tourism activity and local benefit is already clear. Businesses operate near one of Africa’s most visited parks, yet many rely on inconsistent foot traffic and word-of-mouth exposure.
Thulani Nkosi, a Hazyview-based tourism operator.
“We see the tourists coming through every day, but that doesn’t automatically translate into income for local businesses, unless there is a deliberate effort to bring visitors into our spaces through structured routes, partnerships, and marketing. This road could end up being just another way for tourists to pass us by,” Nkosi said.
The concern reflects a broader structural issue within South Africa’s tourism economy: proximity does not guarantee participation.
Tourism’s value lies in its multiplier effect, how widely spending circulates through the local economy.
Zakhele Mbatsane, owner of Ebukhosini resorts, said tourism delivers stronger economic outcomes when visitors engage with multiple local services.
“When tourists are confined to a single attraction or a limited set of operators, the broader economy sees very little benefit. But when they spend across accommodation, food, transport and local experiences, the impact becomes far more inclusive and sustainable.”
For Mpumalanga, this means the success of the route depends on whether SMMEs are integrated into the tourism value chain—not simply located along it.
Infrastructure without inclusion
Global evidence suggests that infrastructure projects alone rarely deliver inclusive growth.
The World Tourism Organisation has highlighted that without deliberate policies linking local enterprises to markets, tourism expansion often reinforces existing inequalities rather than addressing them.
In practical terms, this means that roads must be accompanied by access to booking platforms, inclusion in tour packages, skills development and product readiness, coordinated marketing that features local businesses.
Without these elements, SMEs risk remaining invisible to the very tourists passing through their communities
