Invisible by design? Algorithmic gatekeeping, platform power and the digital visibility of South African township tourism

Township tourism is promoted through social media, search engines, online travel agencies and review platforms, yet digital participation does not guarantee that enterprises will be discovered, trusted or selected. This conceptual article examines how algorithmic gatekeeping and platform power shape the visibility, credibility and market accessibility of township tourism enterprises in South Africa. An integrative review synthesises scholarship on township tourism, digital inequality, platform ecosystems, network gatekeeping, resource dependence and social justice. The analysis identifies a progression from unequal digital access and capabilities to an algorithmic visibility divide produced by rankings, review architectures, recommendation logics, paid promotion and data extraction. These mechanisms can generate cumulative advantage, as established enterprises attract the attention, reviews and transactions that reinforce subsequent rankings, whilst marginal enterprises remain difficult to discover. The resulting platform-justice framework connects structural conditions, platform participation, algorithmic gatekeeping, visibility and credibility, visitor attention and local value capture. It identifies access, visibility, recognition, procedural, data and economic justice as conditions for digital inclusion. The study concludes that inclusion should be evaluated through discoverability and distributive outcomes rather than platform presence alone. It offers destination organisations, policymakers and platforms a basis for designing fairer discovery, review, data and support systems for township tourism.