Gay men, tourism and urban space: Reflections on Africa's 'gay capital'

The advent of a post-apartheid dispensation triggered the large-scale expansion of the South African tourism system and promoted greater confidence in gay leisure space development. The general popularity of Cape Town as a tourist destination has also been echoed in the gay male tourism market, this city emerging as Africa's gay tourist capital. Writing from an unfamiliar setting regarding gay tourism research, the exploratory research reported in this paper provides a brief overview of the impact of overlapping tourism and leisure space development on Cape Town's emerging gay enclave - De Waterkant. The investigation suggests that the new urban space that has subsequently emerged excludes significant sectors of the Cape Town gay community.