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Cultural tourism

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DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.4522.6323

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 Cultural Toursim
First published 2008 by Juta & Company, Ltd
Mercury Crescent
Wetton 7780
Cape Town, South Africa

© 2008 Juta & Company, Ltd

ISBN 978 0 702 17185 7

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.

Typeset in 10/14 NewsGotTLig

Project Manager: Davina Hutchinson

Editor: Ken McGillivray
Indexer: Ken McGillivray
Typesetter: WaterBerry Designs
Cover designer: WaterBerry Designs
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The authors and the publisher have made every effort to obtain permission for and to acknowledge the use of
copyright material. Should any infringement of copyright have occurred, please contact the publisher, and every
effort will be made to rectify omissions or errors in the event of a reprint or new edition.

prelims.indd 2 13/2/08 9:40:46 AM

 CONTENTS

Foreword xv
Introduction xvii
Why develop cultural tourism in South Africa? xvii
The historical context of South African cultural and tourism development xix
Cultural tourism as a socio-economic tool of community empowerment xx
The approach to cultural tourism development used xxi
The main sources of information xxii
Who should use this book? xxiv
Glossary xxvi

List of text boxes, tables, figures and photographs 1

SECTION I: AN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL

TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

Introduction 6

1 The dimensions of culture 9

1.1 Introduction 9
1.2 What is culture? 10
1.2.1 How do we learn about culture? 11
1.2.2 Social control – a means of maintaining a group’s
culture 11

prelims.indd 3 13/2/08 9:40:48 AM

 1.2.3 Agencies of social control 12
1.3 The traditional nature of culture 13
1.3.1 Cultural identities and cultural pride 14
1.3.2 Cultural communities 14
1.3.3 Oral cultures and traditional communities 15
1.4 Aspects of culture 16
1.4.1 Material aspects of culture 16
1.4.2 Non-material aspects of culture 17
1.4.3 Cognitive aspects of culture 18
1.4.4 Language and culture 19
1.5 Approaches to defining culture 20
1.5.1 Culture seen as a process 22
1.5.2 Culture seen as a product 24
culturaltourism

1.6 Elements of culture most attractive to tourists 25

1.7 Unesco’s definition of culture 26
1.8 Summary 26
Questions for self-assessment 27
iv
Task 27

2 The ‘old’ and ‘new’ phenomena of culture 28

2.1 Introduction 28
2.2 The ‘old’ phenomenon of culture 29
2.2.1 Humanism and the Renaissance – setting the stage
for the Grand Tour 30
2.2.2 The ‘Classical’ Grand Tour 32
2.2.3 The ‘Romantic’ Grand Tour 33
2.3 The ‘new’ phenomenon of culture 34
2.4 The consequences of broadening the basis of culture 35
2.4.1 ‘High’ culture 35
2.4.2 ‘Low’ culture 36
2.4.3 Mass culture and cultural industries 37
2.5 ‘Low’ and ‘high’ cultural integration 38
2.5.1 The postmodern perspective on culture 39
2.5.2 Implications of ‘low’ and ‘high’ cultural integration for

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 tourism 42
2.6 Summary 43
Questions for self-assessment 44
Task 44

3 Globalisation and tourism 45

3.1 Introduction 45
3.2 The face of globalisation 49
3.2.1 Globalisation and developing countries 51
3.2.2 Ten consequences of globalisation 52
3.3 Tourism as an export strategy 54
3.3.1 Tourism and world trade 55
3.3.2 Tourism and the least developed countries (LDCs) 57
3.4 The world’s leading destinations and tourism earners 66
3.5 Future growth in international tourism 69
3.6 Tourism in South Africa – the new ‘gold’ 71
3.7 Summary 72 v
Questions for self-assessment 73

contents
Task 73

4 Cultural tourism defined 74

4.1 Introduction 74
4.2 Approaches to defining cultural tourism 75
4.2.1 Defining cultural tourism: The ‘sites-and-monuments’
or technical approach 76
4.2.2 Defining cultural tourism: The ‘conceptual activity’ or
process-based approach 76
4.2.3 UNWTO definitions of cultural tourism 76
4.2.4 The ATLAS and ICOMOS definitions of cultural tourism 77
4.3 The scope of cultural tourism 79
4.4 Melanie Smith’s main forms of cultural tourism 80
4.4.1 Heritage tourism 81
4.4.2 Arts tourism 83

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 4.4.3 Urban cultural tourism 84
4.4.4 Rural cultural tourism 87
4.4.5 Indigenous cultural tourism 88
4.4.6 Contemporary (popular) cultural tourism 89
4.5 Cultural tourism as special-interest tourism (SIT) 89
4.5.1 Creative tourism 91
4.5.2 Ethical tourism 92
4.5.3 Life-seeing tourism 93
4.6 Summary 94
Questions for self-assessment 95
Task 95

5 Conceptualising cultural tourism 96

culturaltourism

5.1 Introduction 96
5.2 The market and tourism development approaches to tourism
development 97
5.3 Cultural tourism processes (the tourism development approach) 100
vi
5.4 The basic structure of cultural tourism (the market approach) 102
5.5 Summary 103
Questions for self-assessment 103
Task 104

SECTION II: RESOURCE-BASED DEVELOPMENT IN CULTURAL TOURISM

Introduction 106

6 Cultural resources, attractions and destinations 108

6.1 Introduction 108

6.2 Defining resources in cultural tourism 111
6.3 Defining tourist attractions 111
6.3.1 Natural attractions 112
6.3.2 Cultural attractions 113
6.3.3 Special events 113
6.3.4 Tourism as a threat 113

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 6.3.5 Tourism as beneficial activity 114
6.3.6 Permanent and temporary attractions 114
6.3.7 Other classifications of attractions 114
6.4 Defining tourist and cultural tourism destinations 114
6.5 Classification of cultural attractions 115
6.5.1 Forms of culture which do not animate or directly involve
human activity 115
6.5.2 Forms of culture reflected in the normal, daily life of
a destination 115
6.5.3 Forms of culture that are specially animated and may involve
special events or depict historic or famous occurrences 116
6.6 The authenticity and uniqueness of cultural attractions 116
6.6.1 Authenticity as an attribute of a cultural attraction 118
6.6.2 Cultural events and staged authenticity 120
6.6.3 Determining the authenticity and uniqueness of
cultural attractions 122
6.7 The protection and conservation of cultural heritage sites 126
6.7.1 International conservation charters 126 vii
6.7.2 The South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) 127

contents
6.7.3 SAHRA’s fundamental principles of heritage
conservation in South Africa 127
6.8 Purpose-built (contrived) cultural attractions – theme parks 129
6.8.1 Disney theme parks 129
6.8.2 The Africa Theme Park Resort (ATPR) 131
6.9 Primary attractions and the image of cultural destinations 132
6.10 Secondary attractions and a destination’s cultural menu 132
6.11 The relative importance of socio-economic elements influencing
the cultural attractiveness of a tourist region 133
6.11.1 Cultural landscapes 133
6.11.2 Intangible (living) heritage 134
6.12 The Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible
Heritage of Humanity 135
6.13 Living human treasures 136
6.14 Summary 136

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 Questions for self-assessment 137
Task 138

7 The selection process for determining cultural

attractions 139

7.1 Introduction 139

7.1.1 The inventory phase 140
7.1.2 The description phase 140
7.1.3 The assessment phase 140
7.1.4 The evaluation phase 140
7.1.5 The attraction mix strategies (packaging) phase 140
7.2 An inventory of cultural resources 140
7.3 The description of cultural attractions 142
culturaltourism

7.4 Assessment of cultural attractions – the Four A’s 142

7.4.1 Attributes 143
7.4.2 Authenticity 144
7.4.3 Activities 145
viii
7.4.4 Attractiveness 146
7.5 Evaluation of cultural attractions 146
7.5.1 Cultural attraction quality 146
7.5.2 Cultural attraction activity expansion 147
7.5.3 Cultural attraction drawing power 147
7.5.4 Cultural attraction accessibility 148
7.5.5 Community value of a cultural attraction 149
7.5.6 Criteria for ‘post-selection’ of previously assessed and
evaluated cultural attractions 150
7.6 Cultural attraction mix strategies 151
7.6.1 Bunching/clustering of cultural attractions 151
7.6.2 Theming of cultural attractions 152
7.6.3 Labelling of cultural attractions 158
7.6.4 Adaptive re-use or altering of cultural attractions 159
7.6.5 Mixing the strategies 159
7.7 Summary 162

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 Questions for self-assessment 164
Task 164

8 The interpretation and presentation of cultural heritage 165

8.1 Introduction 166

8.2 The educational character of cultural heritage 169
8.2.1 The role of cultural heritage in formal education 171
8.2.2 The role of cultural heritage in informal education 173
8.3 The historical development of the interpretation and presentation
of cultural heritage 175
8.3.1 The origins of heritage interpretation and presentation 175
8.3.2 The World Exhibitions 176
8.3.3 Early museums 183
8.3.4 Artur Immanuel Hazelius (1833-1901) – the open-air
museum concept 183
8.3.5 The development of open-air museums in the
United States 184
ix
8.4 The interpretation of cultural heritage sites 184

contents
8.4.1 ICOMOS and heritage interpretation 187
8.4.2 Freeman Tilden (1883-1980) – the father of
heritage interpretation 192
8.4.3 Sources of bias in heritage interpretation 194
8.4.4 The role of interpretation in contemporary cultural
heritage tourism 195
8.5 The presentation of cultural heritage 195
8.5.1 Digital museums and the use of intelligent information in
the presentation of exhibits 198
8.5.2 Innovative concepts for interactive multimedia presentation
of cultural heritage sites 200
8.5.3 The presentation of intangible heritage 201
8.6 Summary 203
Questions for self-assessment 204
Task 204

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 SECTION III: THE PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF CULTURAL
HERITAGE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE TOURISM

Introduction 206

9 The cultural tourism product 207

9.1 Introduction 208
9.2 Defining the cultural tourism product 209
9.3 Elements and characteristics of the cultural tourism product 210
9.3.1 The core cultural product 211
9.3.2 The tangible cultural product 211
9.3.3 The augmented cultural product 211
9.4 Approaches to cultural tourism product development 212
9.4.1 The destination zone level of cultural product development 213
culturaltourism

9.4.2 The operational level of cultural product development 214

9.4.3 Tactics for transforming cultural heritage assets into cultural
tourism products 215
9.4.4 A special case of transforming political or national
x
cultural heritage 217
9.5 South African cultural tourism product development 219
9.5.1 The domestic market perspective 220
9.5.2 The international market perspective 220
9.5.3 The tourism industry perspective 221
9.6 ‘Proudly South African’ cultural and heritage tourism products 222
9.6.1 Township tours – a Soweto case study 223
9.6.2 African Dream Routes – a rural cultural tourism product 228
9.6.3 Cultural villages 232
9.7 The ‘McDonaldisation’ and ‘Disneyfication’ of culture 235
9.8 Summary 236
Questions for self-assessment 237
Task 237

10 The popularity of cultural heritage attractions 238

10.1 Introduction 238
10.2 Attributes of the popularity of cultural heritage attractions 243

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 10.2.1 Product attributes 244
10.2.2 Experiential attributes 247
10.2.3 Marketing attributes 248
10.2.4 Cultural attributes 249
10.2.5 Leadership attributes 250
10.3 Cultural differences as determinants of destination popularity 251
10.3.1 The tourist ‘bubble’ 251
10.3.2 South Africa versus New York 252
10.3.3 The influence of crime on destination popularity –
the case of Cape Town 253
10.4 The most-visited (popular) cultural heritage attractions and sites
in cultural tourism worldwide – the ATLAS survey 256
10.4.1 Elements of distinctiveness in the image of a
cultural destination 257
10.4.2 The most desirable cities in the world for a cultural holiday 258
10.5 The most-visited cultural heritage sites in South Africa
and sub-Saharan Africa 258
10.6 Summary 261 xi
Questions for self-assessment 262

contents
Task 262

11 Cultural tourism demand 263

11.1 Introduction 264
11.2 The role of ‘need’ and ‘motivation’ in cultural tourism travel 266
11.2.1 The role of ‘need’ in cultural travel 267
11.2.2 The motivation for cultural travel 269
11.2.3 The theory of tourist motivation: Pearce’s Travel Career Ladder 270
11.2.4 McIntosh’s motivational categories: the centrality of
cultural motives 271
11.2.5 The correlation between motivation for travel and the
consumption of culture 273
11.2.6 Travel awareness and tourist attitudes 274
11.2.7 Mathieson and Wall’s tourist ‘decision-making’ process 275
11.3 Mass tourism demand and the consumption of culture 275
11.3.1 Catalysts for mass tourism demand 276

prelims.indd 11 13/2/08 9:40:57 AM

 11.3.2 The homogeneity of mass tourism demand 279
11.3.3 Mass tourism and the consumption of culture 280
11.3.4 The emergence of Special Interest Tourism 282
11.4 The experiential economy and the consumption of culture 282
11.4.1 Lifestyle demand and cultural experience 283
11.4.2 The EXCITE economy 284
11.5 The characteristics of demand for cultural tourism 284
11.6 New market niches for cultural tourism 291
11.6.1 Creative consumption in cultural tourism 293
11.7 Summary 294
Questions for self-assessment 295
Task 295

12 The cultural tourist and the consumption of

culturaltourism

tourist experiences 296

12.1 Introduction 297
12.2 The tourist 299
12.2.1 Becoming a tourist: the ‘rites of passage’ and the
xii ‘sacred pilgrimage’ 299
12.2.2 Tourist profile characteristics 302
12.3 The cultural tourist 305
12.3.1 The typology of cultural tourists 305
12.3.2 The tourist of the future: the ‘authentic’ tourist 308
12.4 The ATLAS survey: characteristics of cultural tourists 310
12.4.1 Demographic characteristics of cultural tourists 310
12.4.2 Behavioural characteristics of cultural tourists 311
12.5 The nature of consumption of tourist experiences in cultural tourism 312
12.5.1 The Excite experience 313
12.5.2 The standardised experience 313
12.5.3 The authentic experience 313
12.6 Tourist consumption of cultural experiences/products in South Africa 314
12.6.1 Consumption of South African cultural experiences by
domestic tourists 316
12.6.2 Consumption of South African cultural experiences by
international tourists 319
12.7 The authenticity of cultural tourism experiences 322
12.7.1 MacCannell’s ‘staged authenticity’ 323

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 12.7.2 Cohen’s ‘emergent authenticity’ 324
12.7.3 Wang’s ‘existential authenticity’ 324
12.8 Summary 325
Questions for self-assessment 326
Task 326

References and recommended reading 327

Index 334

Picture credits 337

xiii

contents

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 This book is dedicated to my adored children, Lidija and Bojan.

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 FOREWORD

Throughout the history of our species, culture has been an integral part of our human
evolvement, inseparable from our existence and development. From our remotest times
as cave dwellers to our recent space explorations which have provided our civilisation
with breathtaking photographs of the inhospitable landscapes of the Red Planet, every
civilisation in our history has had a powerful, articulate need to leave its imprint on our
planet. The Pyramids of Gizeh, the Taj Mahal, the Acropolis, the Great Wall of China and
the Colosseum represent but a few phenomenal cultural messages, messages intent
on securing immortality for the civilisations they represent and leaving behind indelible
marks of intellectual and technological achievement. For humankind, the desire to
explore the solar system, to unravel some of its innumerable mysteries and to leave a
human footprint on Mars remains irrepressible.

Some day in the distant future, a curious group of tourists will take a trip to the Red Planet
and be shown the exact place where the first human being stepped from the spacecraft
and left a footprint on the Martian surface. From the perspective of the development
of cultural tourism, there is no doubt that even in the distant future the authenticity
of that footprint will be examined for the purpose of informing, educating, enhancing
understanding, conveying a message and satisfying the curiosity of tourists. These
tourists will be keen to buy souvenirs – some red Martian dust perhaps – attractively
and suitably packaged. They will venture on sightseeing tours and follow the routes of
the first human explorers and settlers. This will certainly be an extraordinary cultural
experience for any human gazing at our own beautiful Blue Planet from the depths of
space. A tour guide will explain the technological and intellectual achievements of our
present Earth-era, our way of life, customs, beliefs and traditions – and the group of
tourists asking questions about the footprint are our cultural tourists of the future!

There is no doubt that tourism travel will be a constant aspect of human life for
centuries to come. The desire to understand, learn and experience things in reality is

prelims.indd 15 13/2/08 9:40:59 AM

 the impetus that drives cultural tourism and makes a positive tourist experience a constant pursuit. In
short, tourism is here to stay! Certainly it will evolve, become more specialised, restructure so as to
accommodate new needs and motivations. But it will not be fully replaced in the future by anything
as artificial as virtual reality, holograms or hypnotically induced travel. Tourists – present and future
– want to see the real thing, be it Mona Lisa’s smile on Da Vinci’s original canvas or an authentic
human footprint on the surface of Mars.

A challenging responsibility awaits the developers of cultural tourism as they are the ultimate keepers
of our past, making it accessible to all who seek information and an authentic experience. How
well we preserve the elements of our culture today will ultimately determine the attractiveness and
uniqueness of some future cultural tourism products. So our present responsibility is to conserve and
preserve our cultural heritage so as to ensure a meaningful interpretation, and to protect our cultural
resources through community-based tourism development. But, most importantly, we need to use
cultural attractions in a responsible and sustainable manner so that future generations will be able to
enjoy them in the same way we do today. Seen from this perspective, it becomes clear that in order to
fulfil this important role, the cultural tourism developer has to understand the interconnectedness and
interdependence of tourism and culture and have an in-depth knowledge of the basic characteristics
and principles that govern both fields. Only well-trained people will be able to serve as guardians of
culturaltourism

our cultural heritage, as entrepreneurs and as successful tourism developers capable of securing and
maintaining the sensitive balance between the protection and use of culture in tourism.

This book is intended to equip the student with the necessary knowledge to carry out successfully and
responsibly all the tasks relating to cultural tourism development.
xvi
I should like to acknowledge the valuable suggestions and assistance given to me by Dr Pranill
Ramchander during the writing of this book.

Milena Ivanovic

January 2008

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 INTRODUCTION

WHY DEVELOP CULTURAL TOURISM IN SOUTH AFRICA?

South African Tourism (SAT) has identified the development of cultural tourism as
one of the country’s key growth areas. Unfortunately, the potential for cultural tourism
growth does not correspond to the actual use of cultural resources in South Africa
as part of the tourism product mix. A surprising outcome of the South African
Tourism Competitiveness Study published in 2004 is a perception held by the tourism
industry that our cultural tourism products lack authenticity and sophistication. Even
more worrying is a discovery that, in general, tourists lack empathy with cultural tourism
products, which further implies that such products taken out of their original cultural
setting become unrecognisable as authentic expressions of the original traditional
cultures. With this in mind, the possibility of developing community-based cultural
tourism must be realised as a matter of urgency.

Although the tourism industry’s negative perception of the quality of the South African
cultural tourism product is worrying, international tourists, on the other hand, have
rated cultural tourism as the key component of a meaningful South African tourism
experience. Even more surprisingly, cultural products are given the highest ratings
by domestic tourists, the market segment that has so far been almost completely
ignored in South Africa. Unfortunately it is becoming standard practice among cultural
destinations in South Africa to consider the needs of international tourists only and not
those of domestic tourists.

We can present a few valid arguments why South Africa should in the future prioritise
cultural tourism development.

First, cultural tourism is the fastest growing type of tourism in the world. It is estimated
that 17–35% of all travel in the world is culturally motivated (UNWTO and Greg

prelims.indd 17 13/2/08 9:41:00 AM

 Richards respectively). Unfortunately this opportunity has not yet been grasped in South African
tourism. The outcomes of the research project ‘A Global Competitiveness Study’ commissioned
by SAT clearly reveal that international and domestic tourists expressed soaring interest in
the authentically South African cultural tourism product. But the study also revealed that a
potential demand is not matched by actual cultural tourism offerings. It emerged that the diversified,
authentic cultural tourism product that cultural tourists can empathise with is lacking. In order to
fill in the gaps that exist in the South African market, we should first build capacity by providing
adequate training. One would hope that the material presented in this book will create awareness and
provide the tools needed to transform cultural community assets successfully into attractive cultural
tourism products.

Secondly, culture is the only resource capable of interconnecting the characteristics of the
physical assets of a place with the living culture. In essence, culture is responsible for ‘place-
making’, that is, creating the authentic atmosphere of the place (‘sense of the place’) which in
turn creates an identity (‘image’) of the place as a tourist destination. The compound
effect of connecting physical resources to culture is the production of a broad variety of
cultural tourism experiences seen as the raison d’être of cultural tourism development. South
Africa’s cultural and heritage resource base is among the most diversified in the world.
culturaltourism

This potential should be more effectively harnessed by creating a wide variety of authentic
tourist experiences.

Thirdly, and most importantly, cultural tourism has been singled out as an effective socio-economic
tool whereby the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (UN MDGs) can be achieved.
xviii Both international and African communities have endorsed this: the United Nations itself; the
United Nations Educational and Scientific Commission (Unesco); the United Nations World
Tourism Organization (UNWTO); the International Monetary Fund (IMF); the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) and the New partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad).
The most pressing development goals singled out by the international community are poverty
alleviation and job creation, especially in disadvantaged rural communities. The principles of
sustainability and responsible tourism guidelines are at the core of strategies driving tourism
development in South Africa. UNWTO embraced pro-poor tourism growth as the measure of the
effectiveness of tourism development in achieving UN MDGs as it can provide a clear picture of the
realistic economic growth derived from tourism that positively affects the poorest segments of the
continent’s nations.

South Africa should use more of its cultural heritage potential to secure disadvantaged communities
– largely the owners of culture and heritage – so that they become the primary beneficiaries of cultural
tourism development.

Fourthly, cultural tourism is a powerful tool in urban regeneration and rejuvenation of run-down
city centres. Many urban spaces in South Africa are in urgent need of economic regeneration
and urban rejuvenation. Culture and tourism can provide the desired solution by transforming
these areas into cultural tourism hubs following the good example of Cape Town. The ‘Blue IQ’,
the government’s development agency, is doing sterling work in urban rejuvenation in
Gauteng. The same approach could be used in transforming many other South African cities
and towns.

prelims.indd 18 13/2/08 9:41:01 AM

 THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF SOUTH AFRICAN
CULTURAL AND TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

During the apartheid era cultural groups and communities were segregated, unlawfully displaced,
oppressed, their right to freedom of cultural expression censored and their basic human rights
violated. The development of culture therefore evolved in a highly distorted political environment; a
rich variety of cultural expressions did not enjoy any public support, which was a barrier to normal
growth and the evolution of culture. Oppressive political circumstances were also limiting factors to
the development of any meaningful forms of domestic tourism. Tourism was believed to be ‘the white
thing’, a perception that still prevails in South Africa. Furthermore, the apartheid policies placed severe
constraints on the development of the tourism industry. According to the government’s Tourism White
Paper on the development and promotion of tourism in South Africa, published in 1996, the state of
the tourism industry that was handed over to the first democratic government in 1994 was fraught
with problems. These can be summarised as follows:

• an inadequately resourced and funded tourism industry;

• a myopic private sector (a lack of partnerships);
• limited scope for development due to past political policies, and
• the exclusion of local communities and previously neglected groups from tourism development,
which, at grassroots level, still continued to give to tourism development the stigma of a whites-
only enterprise.

The isolation of the South African apartheid regime by the international community in protest against
xix
its policies meant that South Africa was cut off from mainstream cultural and tourism developments
which were flourishing all over the world at that time. The severity of the problems inherited from the

introduction
past were further reaffirmed in the White Paper of 1996:

Tourism development in South Africa has largely been a missed opportunity. Had its
history been different, South Africa would probably have been one of the most visited
places in the world.

In the same vein, we should not allow cultural tourism to be labelled ‘the missed opportunity’ in
any future government literature. If this were to happen, then only this time around we would
miss this opportunity for a completely different reason – a lack of awareness, training and
capacity building.

Today, tourism has been declared the priority industry by the South African Government as in
2005 it outperformed gold mining as a revenue generator – traditionally, the country’s number
one export industry – by three billion rand. In 2005 over seven million foreign tourists visited South
Africa, meaning that the volume of national tourism has more than doubled in the ten years since
South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994 – when only three million foreigners visited the
country.

SAT’s chief research officer, Didi Moyle, has revealed that tourism’s contribution to South Africa’s
gross domestic product was R93,6 billion in 2004, up from R72,5 billion in 2002. The sector
employs 1,2 million people, with 36 000 new jobs having been created in the past two years
alone.

prelims.indd 19 13/2/08 9:41:02 AM

 South Africa is currently one of the ‘hottest’ destinations in the world. According to the 2004 World’s
Best Awards survey by international travel magazine Travel & Leisure, of the ten ‘best hotels in the
world’ for 2004, five are in South Africa:

• The Saxon Hotel in Gauteng has been voted best boutique hotel in the world four times.
• Londolozi Private Game Reserve in Mpumalanga is in fourth place.
• Bushman’s Kloof Wilderness Reserve in the Western Cape is in fifth place.
• Mala Mala Game Reserve in Mpumalanga is in seventh place.
• Phinda Private Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal is in eighth place.

In the same year, the British Daily Telegraph voted Cape Town as the best foreign city and the
world’s best city in which to eat out. Cape Town was voted second-best destination in the world,
while South Africa itself was voted fifth. South Africa was the only country to feature in the top
five best overall destinations, being placed fifth after Sydney, Cape Town, New York and Dubai.

Undoubtly South Africa is becoming the tourism ‘darling’ of the world. Bearing in mind the high
standing of South Africa in world tourism, it is unfortunate that many of the country’s poorest rural
communities never encounter a single tourist. We cannot blame them for not knowing what tourism
culturaltourism

is or what a tourist looks like. But the question that needs to be asked is: ‘Do we have a reason to be
proud of our high standing in world tourism when we have done so little to share our blessings with
poor communities in the very same country?’ In this regard, cultural tourism presents itself as an ideal
vehicle for community-based tourism development, where people will ‘see’ tourists and ‘see’ the direct
xx economic benefits of tourists’ visits.

Another important argument that supports the development cultural tourism is that tourism
is a geographically specific industry located in only a few tourist areas. Tourism production and
consumption usually occur in a few areas of a country, which are then the main beneficiaries of
tourism development. The fact that cultural heritage tourism is more dependent on community
cultural heritage resources than on expensive infrastructure and accommodation typical of resort
development points to the capacity of cultural tourism to reshape significantly the current skewed
concentration of tourism to only few designated tourism areas and redistribute benefits more fairly
throughout the country. This characteristic gives cultural tourism the power to become the main
tool of socio-economic development through poverty alleviation and job creation among historically
disadvantaged communities in South Africa.

CULTURAL TOURISM AS A SOCIO-ECONOMIC TOOL OF

COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT

Nepad is a pledge by African leaders, based on a common vision and a firm and shared conviction,
that they have a pressing duty to eradicate poverty and to place their countries, both individually and
collectively, on a path of sustainable growth and development, and at the same time to participate
actively in the world economy and international body politic.

The Nepad programme is founded on the determination of Africans to extricate themselves and their
continent from the scourge of underdevelopment and exclusion in a globalising world. It suggests
objectives of tourism development and corresponding actions that could lead to mobilising the

prelims.indd 20 13/2/08 9:41:03 AM

 continent’s natural and cultural resources with the intention of ‘poverty alleviation on the African
continent in accordance to the UN MDGs’ (Nepad document, 2004:1).

Closely related to these issues is the proposal made by former president of the World Bank, James
Wolfensohn (2 April 2001), that it is not possible to reverse the processes of globalisation but it is
possible to create opportunities that will first and foremost benefit the poor. ‘I believe we must treat
globalization as an opportunity and poverty as a challenge,’ was his message to developing countries.
Not surprisingly, Unesco, the World Bank, Nepad, SADC, UNWTO and the UN all identified tourism
as the most effective development tool in addressing the burning issues facing developing countries,
especially creating opportunities for economic growth by securing much-needed foreign exchange
derived from tourism, and eradicating poverty through community-based tourism development.

In line with its potential, tourism is further classified by the IMF as the most suitable export strategy for
debt-ridden countries. For various reasons developing countries are obviously losing the battle in the
international trade arena, but with tourism they are able to enter into an export game where there are
no subsidies, trade barriers, tariffs, cheap labour and cheap products. As estimated by the UNWTO
(2003) tourism is one of the top five export categories for as many as 83% of developing countries in
the world and is the main source of foreign exchange for at least 38% of these countries.

Furthermore, tourism is the world’s largest industry as it involves the greatest, most voluminous
flows of people over the surface of the planet, as well as being the largest of the world’s employers.
Every tenth job in the world is, and will be, directly or indirectly created by tourism. The World Travel
and Tourism Council (WTTC) predicts that between 2006 and 2010 some 328 million people will be
employed in the travel and tourism industry, which is a growth of about 60% from 2004 (approximately xxi
200 million people were employed in 2004).

introduction
In the past few years the South African Government has been addressing issues regarding the socio-
economic potential of tourism in achieving sustainable economic growth through poverty alleviation
and job creation. The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT), in its publication
Responsible Tourism Manual for South Africa, has recommended ‘responsible tourism’ as the most
suitable tourism application, with its emphasis on community-based development and the appropriate
and sustainable use of tourism resources as prerequisites for development within a context outlined
by Nepad and the UN.

THE APPROACH TO CULTURAL TOURISM DEVELOPMENT USED

The approach employed throughout this book reinforces the central place cultural heritage resources
occupy in cultural tourism development. Cultural resources occupy a central position not only in tourism
development but also in marketing as well as being the main catalysts for tourist experiences and the
main motivation for tourism travel in the first place. In the past not much consideration was given
to the protection and conservation of cultural heritage resources as marketing and tourism product
development were seen as the alpha and omega of successful tourism development. But due to the
fact that the government is firmly committed to a responsible approach towards the country’s tourism
development and has embraced various UN, Unesco and International Council on Monuments and
Sites (ICOMOS) charters and declarations as a guideline for protection, conservation, preservation,
presentation and interpretation of national cultural heritage, further sole reliance on marketing and

prelims.indd 21 13/2/08 9:41:03 AM

 tourism product development is becoming highly inappropriate. For this reason the author is of the
opinion that the specific nature of cultural heritage resources presented in this book – being regarded
as the pillars of responsible cultural tourism development – have to be revealed and better understood
by all stakeholders.

This resource-based approach is reflected in the structure of the book as well as in the allocation of
the sections:

• Section I: An introduction to cultural tourism development

• Section II: Resource-based development in cultural tourism
• Section III: The production and consumption of cultural heritage in cultural heritage tourism.

Cultural tourism resources not only form a basis for cultural tourism product development but also
represent the main sources of tourists’ experiences. There is no doubt that culture and heritage
is the main reason for the existence of cultural tourism. If used and abused by tourism, cultural
tourism development will cause harm rather than good to communities – the custodians of culture
and heritage – and indirectly to the country as a whole. The material presented in this book broadens
the reader’s understanding of culture and tourism and, more importantly, provides appropriate tools
culturaltourism

for transforming tourism resources into cultural products based on the principles of sustainability and
responsible tourism development.

THE MAIN SOURCES OF INFORMATION

xxii The development of cultural tourism has a long history especially in Europe, which is considered the
major market for generating the world’s tourism and consequently South African cultural tourism.
Owing to Europe’s almost uninterrupted history of tourism travel – particularly culture-motivated travel
dating from the 17th-century’s Grand Tourists – the continent has accumulated an important body
of knowledge in cultural tourism development. This is the main reason why the primary sources
of research, academic writings and literature in the field of cultural tourism development originate
predominantly in European sources (and much less so from sources coming from New Zealand and
Australia). This means they are crucial sources for any serious writing on the topic. In the past few
years, a handful of authors, such as McKercher, Du Cros and Hu from Hong Kong University, together
with Prentice and Greg Richards, head of the Cultural Tourism Research Group in the Association
for Tourism and Leisure Education (ATLAS), have emerged as the leading authorities on the world’s
cultural and heritage tourism development and management. Their work was also a primary source
of the material presented in this book.

International organisations such as the UN and Unesco set the benchmark for worldwide national
policy formulation on cultural tourism development. Sustainable and responsible tourism
guidelines – the core of the DEAT’s strategies for the country’s tourism development – are all
derived from the examples set by these organisations. The White Paper and the Responsible
Tourism Manual for South Africa incorporate and build further on the best tourism development
practices worldwide, especially where these are applicable to developing countries in which cultural
tourism resources are vulnerable to the irresponsible exposure of indigenous cultures to tourism.
International organisations set the new standards for responsible tourism development worldwide by
embracing Agenda 21 (introduced at the Summit on Sustainable Development in Rio and reaffirmed

prelims.indd 22 13/2/08 9:41:04 AM

 at the summit in Johannesburg). This outlines the main principle guiding community-based tourism
development. Furthermore, specialised agencies of these international organisations were called in
as advisors while the South African Government was developing the Responsible Tourism Manual for
South Africa.

The South African Government also relied on the same sources when developing its policies and
strategies for tourism development in the country. Unesco provided the international framework and
set the international benchmark in relation to the preservation, conservation and safeguarding of
the world’s cultural heritage. National governments all over the world are implementing the Unesco
guidelines, programmes, charters and many other documents which serve as the guide to best
practices in the tourism field, especially the protection and management of the World Heritage Sites.

UNWTO provides the framework for the collection and comparability of national tourism statistics, the
volume and value of the world’s tourism, employment figures, the contribution of tourism to the gross
national product (GDP) of each country, regional statistics, future trends and other tourism-related
statistical data.

The sources of information derived from the ATLAS Cultural Tourism Research Project are valuable
in a sense that it was the first and only international project which from 1991 continuously collected
data by means of qualitative and qualitative research methods: measuring and comparing year-to-
year data focusing on the nature of demand, the expectations and experiences of cultural tourists
and the level of popularity of different cultural tourism attractions. Information is collected by more
than 74 institutions in the world, which carried out the surveys in their respective countries. It is the
first comprehensive research ever carried out on the issues relating to world trends and the main xxiii
characteristics of cultural tourism.

introduction
The research findings clearly reinforced the perception of cultural tourism as the fastest growing type
of tourism in the past decade and confirmed its potent ability to bring substantial economic benefits
to the destinations engaged in providing cultural tourism and heritage products.

Information obtained from ICOMOS and the International Council on Museums (ICOM) is valuable
because South Africa, as a member of both organisations, implements the main charters and
documents regarding issues of authenticity of cultural heritage (Nara Document on Authenticity)
and the interpretation of cultural heritage (the Ename Charter on interpretation and the Charleston
declaration).

Some background documents such as the Nepad document, the UN documents from the UN MDGs,
World Bank and many other sources are widely used either as guiding principles or as the source of
data throughout this book.

However, the most important sources of information are the DEAT and its White Paper and Responsible
Tourism Guidelines for South Africa, SAT, the South African Heritage Resource Agency (SAHRA), in
charge of the South African national estate which includes the country’s cultural and natural heritage,
and the National Heritage Council (NHC), to mention but a few.

Finally, information presented in various documents and conference proceedings from major tourism
conferences as well as the research papers published in international journals in the field of tourism
and cultural tourism development – Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, Journal on

prelims.indd 23 13/2/08 9:41:05 AM

 Cultural Tourism and Cultural Change, Journal of Sustainable Tourism and many others – has been
extensively used throughout this work.

The South African daily press was also a major source of information.

WHO SHOULD USE THIS BOOK?

The material presented in this book is intended for broad academic as well as non-academic use.
Apart from being a textbook intended for cultural tourism students, it is also a source of references
useful for graduate and post-graduate students.

The predominant focus on the characteristics of the cultural tourism resource base is the approach
followed in the nature and selection of the material presented and in the nature of the texts themselves.
Local tourism developers should be able to use the approaches outlined to attempt community cultural
heritage development and the management of community cultural heritage resources successfully.
The information regarding the selection, evaluation, product development and interpretation and
presentation of cultural heritage will be a valuable tool in local tourism development.

The book is also a source of information for all stakeholders – especially the custodians of national
culturaltourism

cultural heritage – as well as managers of cultural heritage sites and museums. Understanding the
logic driving the transformation of cultural heritage resources into cultural tourism product provides an
insight into the factors driving cultural heritage tourism development and helps us to better understand
the possible role of custodians and managers of national cultural heritage resources in cultural tourism
xxiv development.

The material presented in the book removes the stigma associated with tourism development, which
has been viewed as an inconsiderate, money-driven endeavour having no regard for the sustainability
of either resources or communities. Well-trained cultural tourism developers can ensure that
irreplaceable cultural heritage resources provide benefits for all the stakeholders involved, not only
the tourism industry.

The golden rhinoceros from the Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape World Heritage Site: tangible
evidence of South Africa’s rich and centuries-old cultural heritage

prelims.indd 24 13/2/08 9:41:06 AM

 Please note that any material presented in this book that deals specifically with the phenomenon of
culture has been selected in a particular way to provide a better understanding of the unique character
of culture and the sensitive role that it plays in contemporary cultural tourism development. An in-
depth explanation of culture – whether from a holistic or a specific disciplinary viewpoint – falls outside
the ambit of this book and, therefore, any reference to culture is purely from a tourism perspective.

xxv

introduction

prelims.indd 25 13/2/08 9:41:07 AM

 GLOSSARY

ATLAS Association for Tourism and Leisure Education

ATPR African Theme Park Resort
BEE Black Empowerment Enterprise
CANZUS Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States
DEAT Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
DTI Department of Trade and Industry
ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States
ETC European Travel Commission
EU European Union
GCP Global Competitiveness Project
GCS Global Competitiveness Study
GDP gross domestic product
GEDA Gauteng Economic Development Agency
GNP gross national product
ICOM International Council on Museums
ICOMOS International Council on Monuments and Sites
IMF International Monetary Fund
IT information technology
KFC Kentucky Fried Chicken
LDC Least Developed Country
LED Local Economic Development

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 MAP Mediterranean Action Programme
MCSD Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development
MICE Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions
Nepad New Partnership for Africa’s Development
NGO non-governmental organisation
NHC National Heritage Council
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
PEACH Personal Experience with Active Cultural Heritage
PPT Pro-Poor Tourism
RETOSA Regional Tourism Organisation of Southern Africa
SADC Southern African Development Community
SAHRA South African Heritage Resource Agency
SAT South African Tourism
SCA Supreme Council of Antiquities
SIT Special-Interest Tourism
SMME small, medium and micro-enterprise
SNV Stichting Nederlandse Vrijwilligers (Foundation of Netherlands Volunteers)
SOTODA Soweto Tourism Development Association xxvii
TALK Transfer of African Language Knowledge

glossary
UN United Nations
Unesco United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNEP United Nations Environmental Programme
UN MDG United Nation’s Millennium Development Goal
UNWTO United Nations World Tourism Organization
WTO World Trade Organization
WTTC World Travel and Tourism Council

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