Past official government policies on development under apartheid created unequal opportunities at different levels for the population in all the sectors of the South African economy. This study on the relations between tourism policies and the tourism development conditions in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, is a contribution to the ongoing research projects on the transformation that has taken place in the post-1994 development process of South Africa. To find out the concrete nature of the

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... hanges associated with the current tourism development policies, data was collected on certain variables from the 39 local municipalities of the Eastern Cape Province. The use of factor analysis led to the identification of five hierarchies or clusters indicating the levels of inequalities in the tourism development of the province. The findings indicate that generally, much has changed since 1994, as a result of the levelling of the playing field in the tourism sector for both the producers and consumers in the industry. However, much is still expected to bridge the chasm that exists in the country. It is recommended, however, that measured in terms of the maximum benefits that could be derived from the provincial tourism sector, the government officials associated with tourism in particular need to provide more effective leadership in the implementation of the current tourism development policies. Tourism policies in the Eastern Cape can only generate the maximum positive benefits if, inter alia, all the stakeholders in the industry are empowered to produce at their maximum.