Struwig, JareDu Preez, Elizabeth Ann2025-11-182025-11-182025Jarè Struwig & Elizabeth Ann du Preez (2025) Evolving domestic tourism destination preferences post-apartheid, Journal of Leisure Research, 56:4, 568-597, DOI: 10.1080/00222216.2024.2336073.0022-2216 (print)2159-6417 (online)10.1080/00222216.2024.2336073http://hdl.handle.net/2263/105335Tourism is embedded within societal structures, and imbalances upheld through social structures, like systemic racism, leave symbolic boundaries where certain activities perceivably belong to designated population groups. Further, socio-economic factors impede travel behavior especially in emerging markets. Resultantly, marginalization becomes a barrier to inclusive tourism. Domestic tourism patterns in post-apartheid South Africa were explored to determine whether changes have occurred, and whether these changes are a function of race, ethnicity, or socio-economic status. Preferences for three different destinations were compared using two nationally representative samples from the 2006 and 2017 South African Social Attitude Survey. Results indicate that, although race and economic status remained significant, ethnicity was the main impacting variable and interactional effects between ethnicity, age, poverty status, and geotype explained most of the variance. While travel habitus and cultural distance influence preferences, the youth market within certain ethnic groups is most likely to transition to new tourism destinations.en© 2024 The author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution-noncommercial-noDerivatives license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).RaceEthnicityMarginalizationApartheidDestination preferenceDomestic tourismArticle