Cultural tourism as a development vehicle in Ulundi: perceptions and prospects
type: CreativeWork
description: Increasingly, at the international as well as in South Africa, tourism is viewed as the largest industry in the world. It is believed that tourism offers enormous opportunities for the creation of growth, development and wealth to destinations and its local communities. Clearly South Africa certainly has many features which make it attractive to international tourists- game reserve, good weather, geography and even its political history. It is also clear that one of South Africa' most abundant resources are the people and their diverse cultures. It is only recent that people's cultures have begun to be appreciated and acknowledged for their true tourism potential. So cultural tourism is gradually gaining widespread acceptance as a true tourist attraction and also emerging as one of the most promising areas of economic development in South Africa. On the basis of this background, this study examines how cultural tourism can be seen as a development vehicle in Ulundi and how its local communities can benefit from it. The study further investigates the community's perceptions and expectations of cultural tourism in the area. In order to put the investigation in its proper perspective, the following objectives were formulated: • To investigate and identify community based cultural tourism activities in the study area that could promote tourism. • To reveal perceptions and expectations of Ulundi community towards cultural tourism. • To determine the level of understanding that Ulundi community has towards the meaning of cultural tourism. • To assess the extent to which cultural tourism benefits the community within the study area. • To examine the importance and value of conserving culture for future generations. • To establish the level of participation by Ulundi community in cultural tourism activities. These objectives were analysed on the basis of hypotheses, which were structured in such a way that they were equivalent or somewhat similar to the objectives. These hy…
abstract: Increasingly, at the international as well as in South Africa, tourism is viewed as the largest industry in the world. It is believed that tourism offers enormous opportunities for the creation of growth, development and wealth to destinations and its local communities. Clearly South Africa certainly has many features which make it attractive to international tourists- game reserve, good weather, geography and even its political history. It is also clear that one of South Africa' most abundant resources are the people and their diverse cultures. It is only recent that people's cultures have begun to be appreciated and acknowledged for their true tourism potential. So cultural tourism is gradually gaining widespread acceptance as a true tourist attraction and also emerging as one of the most promising areas of economic development in South Africa. On the basis of this background, this study examines how cultural tourism can be seen as a development vehicle in Ulundi and how its local communities can benefit from it. The study further investigates the community's perceptions and expectations of cultural tourism in the area. In order to put the investigation in its proper perspective, the following objectives were formulated: • To investigate and identify community based cultural tourism activities in the study area that could promote tourism. • To reveal perceptions and expectations of Ulundi community towards cultural tourism. • To determine the level of understanding that Ulundi community has towards the meaning of cultural tourism. • To assess the extent to which cultural tourism benefits the community within the study area. • To examine the importance and value of conserving culture for future generations. • To establish the level of participation by Ulundi community in cultural tourism activities. These objectives were analysed on the basis of hypotheses, which were structured in such a way that they were equivalent or somewhat similar to the objectives. These hy…
author: Dlomo, Penelope Lulu
keywords: Tourism
license: https://devspace.unizulu.ac.za/bitstreams/12319f19-b5f7-4079-aed5-c729443ee5f2/download
date published: 2007
date modified: 2026-07-24T06:16:50Z
provider: University of Zululand
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Zululand