scholarly journals Tourist guides’ perceptions of cultural heritage tourism in South Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (34) ◽  
pp. 117-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clinton David van der Merwe
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
South African ◽  
Local Economic Development ◽  
Heritage Tourism ◽  
Cultural Tourism ◽  
Great Emphasis ◽  
African Heritage ◽  
Tourist Guides ◽  
Poor Management

Abstract Heritage tourism is a fast growing niche of cultural tourism worldwide. In Africa, several countries, including South Africa, place great emphasis on the growth of heritage tourism because of its potential for local economic development. Cultural and heritage tourism are being advocated as an important niche within the South African economy. This paper explores the perceptions of cultural heritage tourist guides in South Africa towards heritage tourism, it is argued that the country’s National Department of Tourism must improve the poor governance and poor management of South African heritage assets, and enhance the preservation, transformation and segmented marketing of South Africa’s cultural assets (at all levels of government) in order to sustain and grow cultural tourism in the future.

scholarly journals The Nature of Cultural and Heritage Tourism in Greater Polokwane, Limpopo, South Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 930-943
Author(s):  
Daniel Matome Mohale ◽  
Tracey McKay ◽  
Clinton David van der Merwe
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Local Economic Development ◽  
Heritage Tourism ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
Cultural Tourism ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Art Galleries

Cultural tourism is a fast growing sector in Africa, with many museums and art galleries offering cultural experiences. South Africa, with a large array of cultural products, is actively promoting cultural tourism due to its ability to foster local economic growth and job creation. One such locality in dire need of economic growth is Limpopo Province. Thereupon, it is argued that Greater Polokwane should leverage its significant cultural landmarks and landscapes to promote this form of tourism. However, currently, the size and shape of the cultural and heritage tourism sector in this geographical area is unknown, as scholarly attention has focussed on the wildlife and hunting tourism sectors in this province of South Africa. Ergo, this study outlines the nature of the cultural and heritage tourism industry in Greater Polokwane. This study firstly created a database of cultural organisations and then gathered data by conducting in-depth, semi-structured interviews with the managers and employees. It was found that all the cultural organisations are privately operated, although some are located on State owned-land. The findings indicate that the museums and art galleries generate jobs and foster local economic development; however, they lack the resources to expand and consequently operate below capacity. This has important implications for the viability, growth, and sustainability of cultural and heritage tourism in South Africa.

“Traditional” Venḓa Women’s Beadwork Accessing the Contemporary Tourist Market in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-224
Author(s):  
Mathodi F. Motsamayi ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
The Past ◽  
African Heritage ◽  
Trading Networks

Beads and beadwork have played a role in South Africa’s Limpopo Province dating back to the pre-colonial times. Whether the beads were produced locally or imported via trading networks, the region already had a rich tradition of constructing beadwork before the arrival of Europeans. Today, this tradition is continued by new generations of women beaders. It has been found that literature on contemporary Limpopo beadwork produced by Vhavenḓa women is scarce. This article addressed this imbalance. It is vital to state that, during the last decade and in the context of South African heritage and tourism, there has been a steadily increasing number of scholarly studies on Nguni beadwork. This study offered new insights into contemporary beadwork traditions. It also contributed to an understanding of Vhavenḓa beading by drawing on the knowledge and experience of beadworkers, identifying influences from the past, and countering some stereotypical perceptions of beadwork production.

scholarly journals The challenges of developing small tourism enterprises in townships: case of Umlazi, South Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 201-205
Author(s):  
Nsizwazikhona Simon Chili ◽  
Simiso Lindokuhle Mabaso
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Local Economic Development ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Elite Group ◽  
Global Tourism ◽  
Tourism Enterprises ◽  
Township Tourism ◽  
Tourism Economy

Township tourism in South Africa has grown in popularity since 1994 and is considered by some researchers to be an appropriate mechanism for stimulating local economic development. Opportunities for the development of black-owned enterprises in South Africa began for the first time when the country integrated into the global tourism economy after many years of international sanctions. The growth of township tourism thus can provide the context for potential economic opportunities for local entrepreneurs to enter the business, an activity that traditionally has been the domain of established white South African entrepreneurs. The main objective of the study is to present findings on the challenges that face a certain group of small tourism enterprises in townships with more attention being specifically paid to Umlazi as the second biggest township in the Southern hemisphere. The main reason for the choice of the study is due to the fact that there is only a limited literature that explores the conditions of small-scale and informal tourism entrepreneurs operating in South Africa’s black townships. The focus falls upon the challenges of developing small tourism entrepreneurs for black owners in the township, especially because South African tourism industry is highly concentrated and dominated by small elite group of large, mostly locally owned, tourism organizations which drive the tourism economy that unfortunately excludes and sidelines that of the townships

scholarly journals Power laws, demography and entrepreneurship in selected South African regions

2018 ◽  
Vol 114 (5/6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daan Toerien
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
South African ◽  
Local Economic Development ◽  
Power Laws ◽  
Development Planning ◽  
Size Distributions ◽  
Skewed Distributions ◽  
Enterprise Growth ◽  
Different Parts

Statistically significant Pareto-like log-log rank-size distributions were recorded for population and enterprise agglomeration in the towns of three different regions of South Africa, and are indicative of skewed distributions of population and enterprise numbers in regional towns. There were no distinct differences between groups of towns of regions from different parts of the country. However, the regional agglomerations differed from those of groups of towns randomly selected from a database. Regions, therefore, appear to have some uniqueness regarding such agglomerations. The identification of Zipf-like links between population and enterprise growth in regional towns still does not fully explain why some towns grow large and others stay small and there is a need to further explore these issues. The extreme skewness in population and enterprise numbers of different towns’ distributions should, however, be considered in local economic development planning and execution.

Developmental State No Birth Right: South Africa’s Post-1994 Economic Development Story

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
T. K. Pooe
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
South African ◽  
Local Economic Development ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Developmental State ◽  
Law And Development ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Legal Frameworks

AbstractThis paper explores how South Africa despite having one of the most lauded constitutions and legal frameworks in the world has been unable to advance as a developmental state in economic development and institutional building endeavours. The contention of this paper is that the South African government, prioritising law and development, did so at the expense of institutional building for economic development purposes. Law and development is conceptualised in this paper as States prioritising liberal actions such as separation of powers (judiciary, executive and legislature) and human rights. Consequently, this paper is not arguing against some of the tenants characterising the law and development agenda. Rather it asks, did South Africa lose its credentials as a possible developmental state by prioritising law and development initiatives over building developmental state institutions for local economic development purposes in particular? Ultimately, this paper contends that for South Africa to become a functional developmental state it needs to reconsider its constitutional/law and development aspirations, in favour of reconfiguring government institutions to prioritise economic development.

scholarly journals Battlefields Tourism: The status of heritage tourism in Dundee, South Africa

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (26) ◽  
pp. 121-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clinton David van der Merwe
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Local Economic Development ◽  
Heritage Tourism ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Mining Town ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
The Status ◽  
Local Residents

Abstract Heritage tourism is a significant contemporary facet of tourism in many developing countries. This paper analyses the economic opportunities for battlefield- heritage tourism in South Africa by examining the battlefields route within KwaZulu-Natal. Through structured interviews with stakeholders and structured questionnaires with visitors and local residents, this research explores the understanding of heritage tourism as well as perceptions of its influence on the physical landscape and gauges the importance of this form of tourism as a driver for local economic development in South Africa. Dundee, a small coal-mining town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa - where several battlefields are found, is used as a case study. The study demonstrates that several issues need to be addressed if this niche of cultural and heritage tourism is to be a sustainable and responsible form of tourism in South Africa.

The Potential of Cultural Heritage Tourism to Promote Sustainable Urban Development: The Case of Tainan City

2013 ◽  
Vol 316-317 ◽  
pp. 446-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsing Ping Kuo ◽  
Kang Li Wu
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Urban Development ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Heritage Tourism ◽  
Tourism Development ◽  
Cultural Tourism ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Sustainable Urban Development ◽  
Tainan City ◽  
Cultural Heritage Tourism

As cultural heritage tourism is widely regarded as a key element of promoting sustainable urban development and making a city competitive, allocating suitable budget for developing cultural heritage tourism thus becomes an important issue. Tainan City is an ancient cultural city with many cultural heritages, up to 112 attractions, in Taiwan. As the budget of local governments to promote tourism activities is limited, it is exceptionally important to assess the potential of cultural heritage tourism. Modified the cultural tourism assessment indicators proposed by Mckercher and Ho, this study assessed the potential of eight cultural heritage attractions in Tainan City by surveying visitors who have visited these attractions to verify the positioning of tourism development and to prioritize the resources for enhancing these attractions. The outcomes can provide a reference for decision-makers to promote sustainable tourism and allocate resources.

scholarly journals Learning from the literature on community development for the implementation of community renewables in South Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holle L. Wlokas ◽  
Peter Westoby ◽  
Sue Soal
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Community Development ◽  
South African ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Local Economic Development ◽  
Practical Knowledge ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Community Relations ◽  
Energy Companies

Implementation of large-scale wind, solar and hydro projects in South African communities is intended to contribute to local economic development. Government policy, through the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Prog-ramme (REIPPPP), obliges energy companies to share revenue and ownership with local communities, thus providing renewable energy companies with a significant opportunity to position the industry as a significant contributor to community development and thus to the country’s transformation and development agenda. This investigation draws on policy documents and interview data to establish that the policy’s lack of appreciation for existing community development tradition and frameworks, commonly applied in South African development policy and programmes, has weakened its potential. Furthermore, it theoretically positions the emerging practice employed by the renewables industry in the implementation of the REIPPPP requirements, and outlines how existing academic and practical knowledge about community development and company-community relations can provide guidance and support in building an impactful practice.Keywords: community relations and development, REIPPPP, community benefit, project implementation, social performanceHighlights•    South Africa is implementing a unique version of pro-poor renewable energy policy. •    Industry and local communities and government need to build quality relationships to successfully implement the policy requirements.•    The policy and practice ignores established community development traditions and frameworks.•    Existing knowledge grounded in South African practice and policy experience can guide the sector’s understanding of and vision for development.

ICT and PB Learning Combined for the Advancement of Intercultural Education

2022 ◽  
pp. 81-102
Author(s):  
Sara Cerqueira Pascoal ◽  
Laura Tallone ◽  
Marco Furtado
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Heritage Tourism ◽  
Cultural Tourism ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Intercultural Education ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Research Outcomes ◽  
Ongoing Project

This chapter intends to describe the case of the MIEC virtual exhibition as well as reflect upon the relevance of ICT, namely Google Arts and Culture, for the promotion of cultural heritage tourism. In this vein, the authors will first approach the issues of cultural tourism and ICT, exploring how virtual exhibitions and digitization have become an important tool to empower institutions and audiences. Secondly, the authors will present, discuss, and assess the project-based learning (PBL) activities, starting with the presentation of the platform, its advantages and disadvantages for learning and teaching. Then, the authors will analyze some of the results obtained from a pedagogical perspective by scrutinizing students' surveys and opinions. These results will also report on the research outcomes of the project, and an accountability of its marketing purposes will be proposed. The chapter will finally put forward the limitations of this ongoing project and intended future research, suggesting how similar projects can be implemented, managed, and assessed.

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