Tourism implications and challenges in Musina municipality : a case of the Big Tree Nature Reserve and adjacent tourism ventures, Limpopo

Purpose: This study evaluates tourism implications and challenges around the Big Tree Nature Reserve with its adjacent tourism ventures and entities in Musina Municipality, Limpopo Province, in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach: Data got compiled by interviews and questionnaires in addition to focus group discussions and physical observation. Findings: The study revealed many challenges associated with tourism undertakings around the Big Tree Nature Reserve and its nearby tourism entities. The benefits of tourism were not efficiently tapped into by the local communities within and around the study area. The factors contributing to the poor state of tourism running got delineated by the findings of the study. Hence, there was a potential obligation for a turnaround effective tourism strategy to improve tourism enterprises to benefits local communities within the area. Originality/value: Musina Municipality is one of the remote regions in the North of Limpopo Province, in South Africa. It also has impoverished rural communities akin to many rural areas within the continent. Despite the mentioned, it considerably covers a mostly tourism-orientated area within the Vhembe District.