The nature of the tourism industry is that it traverses various industries and sectors that cater for the needs of tourists. Tourism and hospitality industries are characterised by many small firms worldwide whose ultimate objective is to ensure maximum profit. For example, in 2008, the tourism sector witnessed continuous growth from 100 million jobs (3.7% of total jobs), to 120 million jobs (about 3.8% of total employment) in 2017; the number was projected to grow to 140 million jobs (4.2% of total employment) by 2028 (World Travel & Tourism Council [WTTC] 2018).

The economic contribution of the tourism sector cannot be over-emphasised. There are often challenges associated with the attainment of the desired profit by any business or company. For instance, one often has to strike a balance between supply and demand without necessarily compromising the quality. Another critical aspect in the business is accountability. In this regard and in order to be successful, any company or business is expected to also have a sense of balance of the triple bottom line. This balance involves being socially, environmentally and economically accountable to all its stakeholders. In supply chain management (SCM), this is often referred as the ‘triple bottom line’ concept because it covers the three main aspects of sustainability: environmental performance, social responsibility and economic contribution. Therefore, in an attempt to identify the drivers and barriers of the tourism supply chain (TSC) among businesses in Pretoria, an exploratory investigation study is desirable.

The City of Tshwane is an administrative capital of the country where the Union buildings (the offices of the South African President) are located. It has a rich history. The city hosts the largest number of embassies in the world after Washington, DC (travelstartblog 2017). There are many tourist attractions in Pretoria including the Pretoria Zoo, Freedom Park, the Voortrekker Monument, just to mention a few. The status quo of Tshwane Tourism consists of a variety of components including tourism products, marketing, infrastructure, human resource, small micro medium enterprise (SMME) and entrepreneurial development and investment development plans. An economic analysis by Statistics South Africa (2018) identifies tourism products as the following:

The aforementioned are components that are featured in the tourism value chain in South Africa. These tourism products also serve as enablers and drivers for tourism in the Tshwane area. According to Hove-Sibanda and Pooe (2018), there is a relationship between company performance and supply chain (SC) performance, and this has prompted managers, practitioners and researchers alike to seek a better understanding of the performance of SCs.

The tourism industry in South Africa is largely composed of SMMEs, and it is where most entrepreneurial activity takes place (Nieman & Niewehuizen 2019). The SMMEs generate 35% of the gross domestic product (GDP). However, entrepreneurs and small businesses experience challenges that prohibit coordination and effective implementation of sustainable SC (SSC) (Molefe et al. 2018). Because of the fact that scholars such as Schumpeter (1934) and Casson (2009) link entrepreneurs to economic development, perhaps delving on the concept of economic development will be beneficial especially because the South African government has identified the tourism industry as a critical sector that can boost economic development and reduce unemployment (Binns & Nel 2002 cited in Sifolo 2015).

There have been several interpretations on the concept of local economic development in academia and in practice. There is a school of thought among academics and businesses that local economic development is closely linked to pro-poor tourism. For example, Rogerson (2013) has been an advocate for pro-poor tourism in South Africa as a local economic development initiative to expand the participation of poor people in the tourism economy. In his research on township tourism, Rogerson (2013) cogitates that township tourism is a potential vehicle for inclusive urban tourism and/or pro-poor tourism development.

Although the focus is not on townships but local economic development, Rogerson’s (2006) sentiments have been vastly shared throughout the developing world, that the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are regarded as the seed bed and engine for economic development, poverty alleviation, employment creation and socio-political development. Therefore, addressing the barriers that face SMMEs and maximising a wide range of employment, self-employment and informal sector opportunities is paramount. The sentiments of local development and transformation remain at the top of the government agenda in South Africa; hence, this study focuses on the tourism operations SC drivers and barriers in this developing country.

The emphasis of this study is on local economic development as an approach to bring about transformation among tourism operations. Sharpley and Telfer (2004:84) argue that economic development is a process of economic transition that involves the structural transformation of an economy and a growth of the real output of an economy over time. This study is timely because according to the annual report 2017/2018 of South African Tourism, there are supply-side constraints facing the country such as insufficient accommodation options as well as a lack of supply; these constraints can either be a barrier towards a coherent supply-side of the tourism businesses. In other words, one may argue that, through local economic development, economic transformation is inevitable.

Tourism supply chain is vast and demands numerous stakeholders for it to be effective and efficient. Hence, social inclusion is critical. The inclusion and empowerment of women in economic activities is deemed as a necessity to ensure sustainable economic development (Department of Women 2015). Social inclusion in a form of economic activity forms part of transforming the tourism industry. Drawing from Mugume’s (2010:12) inferences, financial institutions are central to economic development and growth. Economic development occurs with sustained growth from a simple, low-income economy to a modern, high-income economy; as a result, economic activities should be geared to creating an economic base. An increase in formal incentives leads to a significant increase in economic development (Rodrik et al. 2004; Xu 2011). Perhaps, unpacking the concept of SC as an inclusive approach to ensure maximum economic development benefits is critical.

Supply chain refers to clusters of organisations that pass goods from one organisation to the next (Bizana, Naude & Ambe 2015; Mentzer et al. 2001). Supply chain management is the design and management of seamless, value-added processes across organisational boundaries to meet the real needs of the end customer (Fawcett et al. 2007). Hugo, Badenhorst-Weiss and Van Biljon (2004) define SCM as a philosophy of management intended to integrate a system of upstream connections in an organisation with downstream connections by implementing precise procedures and duties that will eventually generate and maximise satisfaction for the consumer through goods and services. Despite several definitions, Hugo, Badenhorst-Weiss and Van Biljon’s definition resonates with this study because the focus of the definition is more on valuable partnerships and the effective integrated system of goods and services to ensure service excellence within the TSC.

The role and nature of SCM research is evolving because companies are increasingly embedded in complex, dynamic, globally dispersed SCs with new challenges. Given the multidisciplinary and multi-level nature, the performance measure of TSC is essential. The SC is the new frontier in environmental responsibility – an area rich with opportunity that remains mostly unexplored, where a number of pathfinders are starting to show others the value that can be found. Sifolo (2015) advocates for SCM within the tourism sphere of influence to strengthen regional, national, provincial and local partnerships in South Africa. In this study, SCM is favoured because of its influence to strengthen SCM in tourism operations in Pretoria because SCM is famous for promoting coherence and coordination.

Organisations face barriers to sustainable SCM (SSCM). These barriers can be either internal or external challenges to the organisation. A combination of tourism products and services together with coherence and coordination among operations can be regarded as drivers of SSCM.

A self-administered questionnaire was the main instrument used to obtain the data for the study between July and October 2017 from the SMMEs in Pretoria. The questionnaire had two sections. The first section contained questions on the demographic characteristics of the tourism operations that participated in the study. These questions were measured on both nominal and interval scales. The second part of the questionnaire consisted of measurement items for the constructs used in the study. These items were selected from previously validated aspects of sustainability (environmental performance, social responsibility and economic contribution). The purpose was to identify the drivers and barriers of the TSC among businesses in Pretoria. This study is exploratory in its nature.

The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24 was used to analyse the data. The statistical tool employed in this study was as follows: (1) a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to calculate the reliability of the questionnaire. (2) A five-point Likert scale with anchors ranging from ‘1’ (strongly disagree) to ‘5’ (strongly agree) was used to score the levels of drivers and barriers on SCPs among tourism operations in Pretoria. (3) Mean (x) and standard deviation (SD) were used to calculate the average level of sustainable tourism SCPs (STSCPs). The highest mean score (x) reflected that the participants apply the STSCP in their tourism operations. Similarly, the lowest mean score showed that they do not apply the STSCP. The SD depicted the spread or dispersion of the scores of the respondents within the group.

The descriptive statistics in Table 1 shows the mean and SD values of variables which were obtained from the empirical study. Below are the detailed SC drivers and barriers of tourism operations in Pretoria.

As shown in Table 1, most tourism operations in Pretoria rated customer relationship management variables as important SSC practices. The results (Table 2) indicate that the tourism operations SC drivers in Pretoria are social media (x = 4.56, SD = 0.768), email (x = 4.24, SD = 1.012) and the feedback system in place or frequent follow-up with the customers x = 4.00, SD = 0.913), respectively.

However, the SC barriers in this study are that the tourism operators consider some form of recycling (x = 0.88, SD = 1.590) as not important. Another barrier is that tourism bodies in the area hardly share knowledge with other tourism stakeholders (x = 2.52, SD = 1.159) followed by exchanging information within tourism chain timeously (x =2.56, SD = 1.083) and assessing the performance of a sample of suppliers against criteria defined in the company’s policy (x = 2.56, SD = 1.193).

Although the risks fall beyond the scope of this study, it is posited that the SC barriers among tourism operations in Pretoria may affect the drivers of TSC in Pretoria. For example, issues like not engaging in recycling can cause a reputational risk in an organisation or the destination in many ways. For example, environmentalists have influenced companies’ perceptions and practices on SCs (Holt & Ghobadian 2009:933) to develop SCs and logistics practices sensitive to the environment (Walker, Di Sisto & McBain 2008:69). If the customer’s demands for better quality products and services that are environmentally friendly are not met, this may leave a bitter taste in the environmentalist stakeholders, months such as customers who may be the suppliers’ manufacturers, distributors, and so on. It is therefore important for the company to protect its reputation to ensure that the inflow and outflow of information are not distorted. Hence, Walker et al. (2008:69) call for the SCs and logistics practices that are sensitive to the environment.

Not engaging in some form of recycling can be a physical risk to men, global warming, flooded raw material resources’ sites, fire hazards, frost hazards, droughts, heat waves and occupational health and safety issues (Nhamo 2010). If a tourism operation is not able to assess the performance of a sample from suppliers against criteria defined in the organisations’ policy, this can lead to a regulatory risk. Lack of monitoring and evaluation mechanisms within the value chain as well as the inability to assess performance against organisation policies can be a barrier to TSC. However, prospects for the future appear to be positive. Travel statistics indicate that tourism is resilient and overcomes negative factors relatively quickly.

This study has offered some valuable insight into studies on the tourism value chain through the lens of local economic development. The study offers insights on tourism supply drivers and barriers. The literature concurs that there are collaboration opportunities that exist among tourism stakeholders in the TSC in Pretoria. Innovation that strengthens inter-sectoral planning and collaboration is pivotal for effective coordination. Governance of the projects or SCs is critical. Issues such as public procurement policies to source innovative goods and services or alternative solutions to meet the communities or stakeholders needs to enhance public service delivery and their environmental performance in the TSC in Pretoria are critical.