Tharwa Akherwaray’s research while affiliated with Stellenbosch University and other places

Township tourism has evolved as a niche tourism offering in South Africa with the potential to create economic opportunities in townships. The experiences of tourists as expressed on online platforms are important barometers of what tourist offerings are working or not. This study analyses the star ratings of and written feedback about tourist attractions in Langa and Gugulethu in Cape Town, as posted on Google Reviews. A quantitative analysis of 9124 Google Review star ratings to ascertain the general ratings of 81 tourist attractions in the study areas yielded results of 3.9 and 4 out of five in Langa and Gugulethu, respectively. A content analysis was performed of 3340 written reviews on the online platform. The nine themes that emerged are discussed in the paper, namely overall experience; importance of history, culture and heritage; infrastructure concerns; safety issues; gastronomic experience; venue aesthetics; customer service; entertainment offerings; and community service and development. The study confirms that reviews from online platforms have the potential to improve the township tourism offering.