Cultural tourism as a development vehicle in Ulundi: perceptions and prospects
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 hypotheses were intended to assist in asking questions and providing educated answers to the questions. The collection of data for this study was done through the use of the questionnaire, which had both open-ended and closed ended questions. It was therefore analysed through the use of computer programme, Statistical Package for Social Sciences. This programme was used to formulated frequency tables and graphs to reflect responses of the subjects interviewed. The main findings of the study revealed that there exists positive perception towards cultural tourism in the study area. The community also had a variety of expectations as cultural tourism has not brought any remarkable improvements in their area. It was again discovered that the community was aware of cultural tourism benefits. The only setback was that they have long been excluded from enjoying such benefits so they tend to be sceptical where there are no visible and tangible improvements. Although this community was aware of tourism benefits but they seemed to know very little about what is happening in the area, hence their minimal participation in local tourism and its activities. In order to address the raised concerns of the respondents, various recommendations were suggested. These included tourism awareness initiatives, easy access to finance by prospective entrepreneurs, community development programmes and adequate dissemination of cultural tourism information. It is without doubt that once the Ulundi community is constantly exposed and involved in tourism matters, they will begin to see and enjoy more benefits of this industry.
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