Abstract:
Selling products and services to tourists is often the main or sole source of
income for local and migrant informal traders participating in the tourism
sector in developing countries. However, they are vulnerable to
exogenous shocks, with the COVID-19 pandemic a recent example.
During COVID-19, international travel and domestic movement bans
affected the livelihoods of many local and migrant informal traders,
with the absence of government support exacerbating the plight of
migrant traders in particular. This study provides valuable insights into
the challenges faced by informal traders in three of South Africa’s main
tourist cities against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a
concurrent mixed-methods approach, the study explores how migrant
and non-migrant entrepreneurs navigated the crisis. This research not
only highlights the critical role of resilience and other survival strategies
for especially migrant traders but also offers practical implications for
the recognition of their resilience and the contribution of both local
and migrant traders to job creation withing the realms of the informal
tourism sector. This study extends resilience theory by applying it
within the socio-economic context of the tourism sector of an
important migration destination on the African continent.
