Every distinction begins with one topic at a time.- start now
The clever learner learns the content. The distinction learner also learns the paper: which lettered section carries which topic, how many minutes it is worth, and how every single mark is awarded.· read the exam, not just the syllabus
This is the map of the whole Grade 11 Tourism examination, not a re-teach of the content. Read it once, then use the mark tables to decide where every remaining revision hour should go. Tourism is examined in a single written paper of 200 marks over 3 hours, so the whole subject stands or falls on one sitting. The paper is divided into five lettered sections, A to E, containing nine numbered questions. There is no choice anywhere: every section, every question and every sub-question is compulsory.
| Section | Questions | Topics | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Q1 | Short objective items sampled from every topic | 40 | 20 min |
| B | Q2, Q3 | Map work and tour planning (the itinerary), then foreign exchange | 20 | 30 min |
| C | Q4, Q5, Q6 | Tourism attractions, culture and heritage, marketing | 50 | 50 min |
| D | Q7 | Tourism sectors and sustainable and responsible tourism, several short source-based parts | 50 | 50 min |
| E | Q8, Q9 | Domestic, regional and international tourism, then communication and customer care | 40 | 30 min |
| Whole paper | Q1 to Q9 | All topics, no choice, every question compulsory | 200 | 180 min |
ONE paper: 200 marks, 3 hours, FIVE sections, NINE questions, no choice.
A 40 · B 20 · C 50 · D 50 · E 40 = 200.
Time: A 20 · B 30 · C 50 · D 50 · E 30 = 180 minutes.
Question order never changes: Q1 in A; Q2 and Q3 in B; Q4, Q5 and Q6 in C; Q7 alone in D; Q8 and Q9 in E.
Marking is one tick per correct fact. There is no rubric and no mark for writing in paragraph form.
Section A is a single question, Q1, made up of five short blocks. Every item is worth exactly one mark, and every topic in the syllabus is sampled, weighted heavily towards the tourism sectors. Forty marks in twenty minutes is thirty seconds an item, so this is a section you finish, not one you linger over.
| Block | Format | Items | Marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 | Multiple choice, four options, one correct | 20 | 20 |
| 1.2 | Matching columns: match a description in one column to an option in the other | 5 | 5 |
| 1.3 | Choose the correct word from the two given in brackets | 5 | 5 |
| 1.4 | Choose the answer from a supplied word list, each option used once | 5 | 5 |
| 1.5 | A second matching block, or one word or term per description, often built on images | 5 | 5 |
| Section A total | 40 | 40 | |
| What the marker does | What that means for you |
|---|---|
| Ticks each separate correct fact, one tick, one mark | Write points that stand apart. Two halves of the same idea earn one tick, not two. |
| Stops ticking once the mark allocation is filled | Six points for a four-mark question wastes two points' worth of time and earns nothing extra. |
| Accepts any of the alternatives listed in the memorandum | Your own correct wording is fine. You are not being matched word for word against a model answer. |
| Awards nothing for presentation or format | Neat continuous prose is good practice, but the marks come from the content inside it. |
| Credits the steps in a calculation, not just the final figure | Show the formula, the substitution and the answer on separate lines, always. |
Each figure below is a topic's share of the whole paper: its named question in Sections B to E, plus the slice of Section A that samples it. The five section totals are fixed; the question totals inside them are the stable pattern across recent sittings, so treat them as reliable planning figures rather than a guarantee to the mark.
| Topic | Question | Approx. total | Priority | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tourism sectors, with sustainable and responsible tourism | Q7 (D) | 68 | Critical | Over a third of the paper once Section A is counted in. Transport in South Africa by air, bus, rail, Gautrain, cruise and car rental, plus careers and entrepreneurship. Q7 alone is 50 marks. |
| Tourism attractions | Q4 (C) | 24 | High | The main attractions of the SADC countries, each tied to its country. Fact-rich and heavily sampled in Section A. |
| Domestic, regional and international tourism | Q8 (E) | 24 | High | The domestic tourism growth strategy, its four strategic objectives, its five market segments and the Sho't Left campaign, regional tourism and SADC. |
| Culture and heritage | Q5 (C) | 22 | High | South African cultural uniqueness and the heritage bodies, including the protection and permit rules. |
| Communication and customer care | Q9 (E) | 22 | High | Reservation systems, care for foreign tourists, handling complaints and managing quality service. |
| Marketing | Q6 (C) | 16 | Medium | Above-the-line and below-the-line promotional techniques, and the marketing budget. |
| Foreign exchange | Q3 (B) | 13 | Medium | Rate sheets, conversions both directions and the multiplier effect. Pure method, so the most predictable marks in the paper. |
| Map work and tour planning | Q2 (B) | 11 | Medium | The tour itinerary: types, planning factors and reading a tour advertisement. |
Every question is also pitched at a thinking level, and the paper is balanced to a fixed spread across three bands. The command word tells you which band you are in, so it tells you how much to write.
| Band | Weighting | Marks | What earns these marks | Command words |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower order (remembering) | 30% | 60 | Stating a fact, term or example with no explanation needed | name, state, list, identify, give, label |
| Middle order (understanding, applying) | 50% | 100 | Explaining, applying knowledge, calculating, or working from a supplied source | explain, describe, calculate, classify, use the source |
| Higher order (analysing, evaluating, creating) | 20% | 40 | Judging, recommending or building an argument in your own words | discuss, analyse, evaluate, suggest, recommend, justify |
The number in brackets after a question is the single most useful instruction on the page. Under tick-per-mark marking it tells you exactly how many separate creditworthy facts to write. Read it before you read the question stem twice.
Q: A data-response sub-question supplies a short tour advertisement and asks: "Explain TWO reasons the tour would appeal to a family with young children. (4)" How should you plan the answer? (Practice scenario, our own wording.)
Read the mark: 4. Read the verb: "explain". Read the number word: "TWO".
Four ticks over two reasons means each reason must be worth two ticks, so each one is stated and developed from the advertisement.
Point 1: the tour includes a supervised children's programme, so parents get free time while the children are cared for.
Point 2: the itinerary lists short daily drives, so young children are not stuck in a vehicle for hours at a time.
∴ 2 developed points × 2 ticks = 4 marks, and every reason is tied back to something printed in the source, which is exactly what a data-response sub-question rewards.
Grade 11 Tourism is one compulsory paper of 200 marks written in 3 hours, divided into five lettered sections holding nine numbered questions. Section A is Q1, forty one-mark objective items in five blocks, and it contains no true-or-false items. Section B holds Q2 on the tour itinerary and Q3 on foreign exchange for 20 marks. Section C holds Q4 on SADC attractions, Q5 on culture and heritage and Q6 on marketing for 50 marks. Section D is a single 50-mark question, Q7, in several source-based parts on the tourism sectors, which makes it the largest question in the paper. Section E holds Q8 on domestic, regional and international tourism and Q9 on communication and customer care for 40 marks. The printed time budget is 20, 30, 50, 50 and 30 minutes. Marking is tick per mark: one tick for each separate correct fact, no rubric anywhere in the paper and no separate mark for paragraph format, so the answer that carries the most distinct correct facts wins. Marks spread 30% lower order, 50% middle order and 20% higher order, and the mark in brackets tells you how many facts to write.
Section D is one question. One. And it is worth as much as the whole of Section C and more than Sections A or E. Learners who revise eight topics evenly walk into a quarter of the paper with an eighth of their preparation.· why this section is first for a reason
This section carries the two heaviest content blocks in the Grade 11 paper. Tourism sectors is Section D, headed simply TOURISM SECTORS, holding one question, Q7, worth 50 marks and 50 minutes, and it is given almost entirely to transport services in South Africa, hospitality, and careers and entrepreneurship. Add its heavy sampling in Section A and the sectors are roughly 68 marks of your 200. Tourism attractions is Q4 in Section C, about 18 marks, and at Grade 11 it means the attractions of the SADC countries and nothing else. Together these two run to about 86 marks. Nearly half the paper is in this one revision session.
Q7 is one 50-mark question made of several short parts, and each part works from its own source. In November 2022 the sources were an airport collage, a car-rental agreement diagram, a rail extract, two transport-mode images and a newspaper article on a restaurateur. The car-rental part asked conceptual questions, not arithmetic, so read each source properly before you write each answer.
| Mode | What it offers the tourist | Strengths | Limitations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air | Domestic flights between the major centres, and the international gateways at OR Tambo, Cape Town and King Shaka | By far the fastest over long distances; frequent schedules on the busy routes | The most expensive; check-in and security add hours; strict baggage limits; airports are outside the city |
| Bus and coach | Scheduled intercity coaches and chartered coaches hired for a whole group | Cheap per seat; a chartered coach keeps a group together and can stop where the tour wants | Slow over long distances; fixed timetables on scheduled services; comfort varies with the class of coach |
| Rail | Ordinary passenger rail, plus the luxury tourist trains that are an attraction in their own right | Comfortable, scenic, generous luggage, sleeping accommodation on overnight legs | Slow; limited routes and departures; luxury tourist rail is a premium price |
| Gautrain | A rapid rail link joining OR Tambo International, Sandton, Pretoria and Hatfield, with a feeder bus network | Fast and predictable in traffic; a safe, simple airport transfer; runs to a published timetable | Gauteng only; a set route; you still need onward transport at the far end |
| Cruise | Coastal cruises from Durban and Cape Town, and international liners calling at our ports | The transport and the accommodation and the entertainment in one price | Slow; departure ports and sailing dates are fixed; the sea does not suit everyone |
| Car rental | Self-drive hire at airports and in the cities, booked by the day or the week | Total freedom of route and timing; usually the cheapest option for a family or small group | The driver does the driving; fuel, tolls and parking are extra; the additional charges add up fast |
The car-rental table is the single most predictable calculation in Section D. The rate quoted in big print is never the amount payable, and the marks live in the extras that follow it. Learn the terms below, then learn to build the total up line by line.
| Term | What it means | Why it matters in the calculation |
|---|---|---|
| Daily rate | The basic charge for one day's hire of that vehicle class | Multiply by the number of days, counting the days in the scenario carefully |
| Included kilometres | The free distance allowed, often a set number per day | Only the distance over the allowance is charged |
| Rate per extra kilometre | The charge for every kilometre beyond the allowance | Overrun kilometres multiplied by the rate, a favourite hidden step |
| CDW, collision damage waiver | A daily fee that limits what you pay if the car is damaged in a collision | A per-day charge, so it is multiplied by the days too |
| TLW, theft loss waiver | A daily fee that limits what you pay if the car is stolen | Also per day, and often listed separately from CDW |
| SCDW and STLW, the super waivers | A higher daily fee that reduces the excess you would have to pay | They lower the excess, not the hire price. The premium goes up, not down |
| Excess | The amount the hirer pays towards a claim before the waiver applies | Not part of the hire total unless the scenario says damage occurred |
| Contract fee | A once-off administration charge for opening the rental agreement | Added once, never per day. Forgetting it loses a mark |
| Delivery or collection fee | A charge for bringing the car to you or fetching it afterwards | Once-off, and only if the scenario asks for delivery |
| TOMSA levy | A small tourism levy added to the bill by participating businesses, including car-rental firms | Listed as an additional cost on the agreement, so include it in the total |
Build a car-rental total in this fixed order and you cannot leave anything out:
1. daily rate × days 2. waivers, CDW and TLW, × days 3. extra kilometres × rate per kilometre 4. once-off charges, contract fee and delivery 5. the tourism levy 6. VAT at 15% where the source gives it 7. add the lot for the total payable.
Three per-day items, one distance item, then the once-offs. Say it in that order under your breath while you write.
Source: A family hires a Group B vehicle for 5 days. Daily rate R395. Included distance 200 km per day. Extra distance R2,50 per km. CDW R95 per day. TLW R55 per day. Contract fee R180 once-off. Airport delivery R150 once-off. TOMSA levy R20. They drive 1 240 km in total.
Q: Calculate the total amount payable. Show ALL steps. (9)
Step 1, hire: R395 × 5 days = R1 975,00
Step 2, waivers: (R95 + R55) × 5 = R150 × 5 = R750,00
Step 3, distance allowed: 200 km × 5 days = 1 000 km
Step 4, extra distance: 1 240 km − 1 000 km = 240 km
Step 5, extra distance charge: 240 × R2,50 = R600,00
Step 6, once-off charges: R180 + R150 = R330,00
Step 7, levy: R20,00
∴ Total = R1 975 + R750 + R600 + R330 + R20 = R3 675,00
Notice that the answer is nearly double the R1 975 of "just the daily rate". That gap is where the marks are, and it is exactly why the setter chooses this question.
The accommodation side of Section D asks you to match a type of establishment and a service to the kind of tourist in the scenario. The vocabulary is what earns the marks: use the industry word, not a general one.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Landside | The public part of the airport before the security control points, with the check-in counters and speed check-in kiosks |
| Airside | The secure part beyond the security control points, with the departure gates and lounges |
| Carousel (baggage claim area) | The moving belt where checked bags are collected after landing |
| Galley and cockpit | The galley is the aircraft kitchen; the cockpit is where the pilots sit |
| Wide-body and narrow-body | A wide-body aircraft has two aisles and a narrow-body has one; seats are described as aisle, window or emergency-exit seats |
| Airport technology | Baggage wrap, x-ray security scanners, biometric and thermal body scanners, metal detectors and information display boards |
| Rail and bus terms | Metrorail is commuter rail and Shosholoza Meyl is the tourist train; luxury trains include the Blue Train, Rovos Rail and the Shongololo Express; buses range from minibuses and coaches to megabuses, sleeper coaches and open-top sightseeing buses |
| Cruise terms | A cruise starts at a port and its cruise terminal; passengers sleep in state rooms (cabins) or suites on the decks |
Q7 closes on people: who works in this industry, what training they need and what skills the job demands. These are usually straightforward marks, but only if you can be specific. "You need to be good with people" is worth little; "fluency in more than one language, because guides work with international visitors" is worth a tick.
| Career | What the job involves | Training and entry | Skills it demands |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tourist guide | Leads groups, interprets sites, manages the day's programme | An accredited guiding course and registration as a guide | Languages, storytelling, first aid, punctuality, people skills |
| Travel consultant | Advises clients, quotes and books flights, accommodation and packages | A travel and tourism qualification, reservation-system training | Product knowledge, accuracy with detail, sales ability, computer literacy |
| Tour operator | Designs, prices and runs tour packages, contracts suppliers | A tourism diploma or degree, plus industry experience | Planning, negotiation, budgeting, problem solving |
| Lodge or hotel manager | Runs the establishment, its staff, its budget and its guest experience | A hospitality management qualification | Leadership, financial control, service standards, staff management |
| Chef | Plans menus, prepares food, controls kitchen costs and hygiene | A professional cookery qualification and an apprenticeship | Food safety, creativity, working under pressure, costing |
| Events coordinator | Plans and runs conferences, festivals and functions | An events or tourism management qualification | Organisation, supplier coordination, budgeting, calm under pressure |
| Air cabin crew | Sees to passenger safety and service in flight | Airline cabin-crew training, safety and first-aid certification | Safety awareness, languages, service, physical fitness |
| Member | Capital | Also on the CAPS list |
|---|---|---|
| Angola | Luanda | Kissama National Park |
| Botswana | Gaborone | Okavango Delta, Chobe National Park, Tsodilo Hills |
| Comoros | Moroni | — |
| Democratic Republic of Congo | Kinshasa | Virunga National Park |
| eSwatini | Mbabane (administrative), Lobamba (legislative) | Hlane Royal National Park |
| Lesotho | Maseru | Katse Dam, Sani Pass |
| Madagascar | Antananarivo | Royal Hill of Ambohimanga (cultural, a World Heritage Site) |
| Malawi | Lilongwe | Lake Malawi, Liwonde National Park |
| Mauritius | Port Louis | Grand Baie |
| Mozambique | Maputo | Lake Niassa, Cahora Bassa Dam, Island of Mozambique, Bazaruto Archipelago |
| Namibia | Windhoek | Fish River Canyon, Etosha, Namib Desert |
| Seychelles | Victoria | Beaches and island leisure |
| South Africa | Pretoria (executive), Cape Town (legislative), Bloemfontein (judicial) | — |
| Tanzania | Dodoma | Kilimanjaro, Serengeti, Stone Town of Zanzibar |
| Zambia | Lusaka | Victoria Falls, Lake Kariba |
| Zimbabwe | Harare | Great Zimbabwe, Matopo Hills, Lake Kariba |
At Grade 11, attractions means the Southern African Development Community. Q4 is worth about 18 marks and it is usually built on a regional map or a photograph. Two rules make it dependable: always give the attraction with its country, and always spell eSwatini, never the old name.
| Country | Main attractions to know | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Zimbabwe | Victoria Falls on the Zambezi, Great Zimbabwe ruins, Matopo Hills, Lake Kariba | Natural and cultural |
| Zambia | The Zambian side of Victoria Falls, the Lower Zambezi, South Luangwa | Natural |
| Botswana | Okavango Delta, Chobe National Park, Tsodilo Hills rock art, the Makgadikgadi pans | Natural and cultural |
| Namibia | Namib dunes at Sossusvlei, Fish River Canyon, Etosha National Park, the Skeleton Coast | Natural |
| Tanzania | Mount Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Stone Town on Zanzibar | Natural and cultural |
| Mozambique | Bazaruto Archipelago, the Quirimbas Islands, the beaches at Tofo and Vilanculos | Natural |
| Lesotho | Sani Pass, Katse Dam, Maletsunyane Falls, highland pony trekking | Natural and man-made |
| eSwatini | Hlane Royal National Park, Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary, Ezulwini Valley craft markets | Natural and cultural |
| Malawi | Lake Malawi, Liwonde National Park, the Mulanje Massif | Natural |
| Mauritius | Grand Baie, the Chamarel coloured earths, Le Morne Brabant | Natural |
Source: "A Grade 11 group of 48 learners and 4 teachers travels from Nelspruit to Cape Town for a five-day tour. The school budget is tight. Once in Cape Town the group needs daily transport to Table Mountain, the waterfront and Cape Point, at times the group chooses itself."
Q: Recommend ONE mode of transport for the long journey and ONE for the daily touring in Cape Town. Motivate each recommendation. (4)
Long journey: a chartered coach. The group of 52 travels together on one vehicle at a low cost per person, which suits a tight school budget, and there are no per-person airline baggage limits for a five-day tour's luggage.
Daily touring: a chartered coach or minibus again. A chartered vehicle runs to the group's own programme rather than a published timetable, so the group can leave Cape Point when it chooses, and it drops them at each attraction's entrance.
∴ Each recommendation is named and then motivated from a detail in the scenario, group size, budget, and the need to set their own times. Two named modes plus two motivations = 4 ticks.
Section D is headed TOURISM SECTORS, and the curriculum puts sustainable and responsible tourism inside it, so both belong to Q7's 50 marks in 50 minutes, a full quarter of the paper. It is one question of several short source-based parts, running through transport services in South Africa and closing on careers and enterprise. Know the modes: air with its speed and its cost, bus and chartered coach for large groups on a budget, rail with its coupé for two and compartment for four, the Gautrain linking OR Tambo with Sandton, Pretoria and Hatfield, cruises that carry transport and accommodation in one price, and car rental with its freedom of route. The car-rental calculation is the most predictable marks in the section: daily rate times days, waivers per day, only the kilometres over the allowance, then the once-off contract and delivery fees and the tourism levy, every step written down. Hospitality asks you to match an establishment and a meal basis to the tourist in the scenario. Careers asks for the job, its training and its skills, and an entrepreneur is someone who spots a gap in the tourism market and takes the risk of filling it. Attractions at Grade 11 is Q4 in Section C, about 18 marks, and it means the SADC countries: Victoria Falls, the Okavango Delta, Sossusvlei, Fish River Canyon, Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti, Zanzibar, Lake Malawi, Bazaruto, Sani Pass and Hlane, each always named with its country, and eSwatini always by its current name.
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Box breathing: 4 counts in, 4 hold, 4 out, 4 hold. Do it four times.
Look at the worked example below first, then make your own. Tick off each topic as you finish it.
Example (already filled in)
| Date | Subject | Topic | Done |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 8 Jul | Tourism | Your weakest topic, notes + summary | ✓ |
| Tue 9 Jul | Tourism | Next topic + 10 practice questions | ✓ |
| Wed 10 Jul | Tourism | A full past paper under time | – |
| Thu 11 Jul | Tourism | Mark the paper, revise weak spots | – |
Your plan
| Date | Subject | Topic | Done |
|---|---|---|---|
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A winner is a loser who tried one more time.- keep going, all the way to the exam