Tourism managers promote tourism in their region through advertising campaigns and strategies, and provide assistance to tourists. They work with tourists of different cultures and traditions from all over the world and should therefore keep these different needs and requirements in mind.
Tourism is currently the fastest growing industry in South Africa and tourism managers have a key role to play in sustaining and increasing this growth through effective marketing of the South African products and services within their region. Part of tourism managers’ tasks is to identify different target markets and to design appropriate packages to meet their needs. It is important that products attract people and persuade them to come back.
Tourism managers manage tourism information centres, including staff supervision and development, business management and office systems management. They need to ensure that quality services are in place by responding to day-to-day tourism enquiries. They regularly check and report to management on the status of the marketing budget for tourism. They make presentations on tourism awareness or of new initiatives, to industry, community or interest groups. They liaise and build close relationships with the media to promote tourism issues, and encourage community involvement and awareness.