Vibrant cultural tourism vision

SOUTH Africa can take advantage of its huge potential in cultural tourism to attract international travellers and investment

Over the years, the majority of South Africans have been complaining about several challenges affecting their general happiness and well-being.

Understandably, these have put a strain on social cohesion, including uncertainty as far as the future of the country is concerned. Among other whammies affecting South Africans, is the perennial load shedding, service delivery-related protests, fuel price hikes, repo rate hikes, high food prices, organised labour and government’s stand-off with regard to wage increases for public servants, and a high unemployment rate which is on 34.5% according to the official government statistics, to name but a few.

There is also the state of hopelessness in the townships and rural areas, including in the cities as the weakened middle class continues to feel the brunt of the economic hardships, which were exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, current geopolitical tensions and includes the effects of climate change.

But here are opportunities South Africans can derive from this rather gloomy state of economic affairs.

South Africa has vibrant cultural tourism opportunities that the whole world needs to know about. Without a doubt tourism in general should be leveraged to play an important role in addressing the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment.

This article will zoom more on the cultural tourism narrative. According to the definition adopted by the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly, at its 22nd session (2017), Cultural Tourism implies “A type of tourism activity in which the visitor’s essential motivation is to learn, discover, experience and consume the tangible and intangible cultural attractions/products in a tourism destination. These attractions/products relate to a set of distinctive material, intellectual, spiritual and emotional features of a society that encompasses arts and architecture, historical and cultural heritage, culinary heritage, literature, music, creative industries and the living cultures with their lifestyles, value systems, beliefs and traditions.”

South Africa is host to the largest number of Unesco World Heritage sites on the African continent.

In the tourism lexicon, branding is everything! I am very impressed by the SA Tourism’s “Live Again” campaign. The TV commercial relating this message, is breath-taking.

This advert comes at a timely and opportune period following the estimated 470000 jobs in South Africa’s tourism industry that have already been lost. The world, and indeed South Africa, is in recovery mode.

South African cuisine is more attractive to a number of visitors from all over the world due to the diverse populations residing in the country, which means that every tourist’s culinary expectations will be met, without compromising our truly and uniquely South African experience. We also have world-class academic institutions in the country, which presents massive opportunities for people-to-people interactions, including through research and student exchange programmes. We have concerts covering all known music genres such as jazz, gospel, Afro-soul and so on. It is amazing how the Amapiano music genre has taken the world by storm!

How about weekend or holiday getaway tours in South Africa’s most pristine and breath-taking tourism attraction destinations? We are spoilt for choice in that sphere.

South Africa has cultural and historical sites such as the ancient city of Mapungubwe, Bela-bela resorts, Tswaing crater, including tourism attractions such as the Table Mountain, Pilanesberg Game Reserve, Madikwe Game Reserve, the Three Roundavels, Ukhahlamba-drakensberg Park, Hluhluwe Game reserve and the Kruger National Park.

There are also plenty of ecotourism opportunities to take advantage of, which should be promoted in line with the global focus on sustainable development in line with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the Paris Climate Agreement of the UN Framework Convention of Climate Change (UNFCCC).

This underlines the reason to redouble our efforts on the Kasi economy, including rural tourism. There are opportunities for hiking and backpacking, with your tour guides being local young people who know the surroundings better, including which spots to visit such as mountains, caves, water holes etc. There is a need for more investment in these areas, which has the huge potential to curb youth unemployment in the country.

South Africans are hard workers and innovative people that need support from government and the private sector to realise their true potential.

We also have a good story to tell as far as sport is concerned. We have been impressed by the work ethic and determination of the Springboks over the years, the current rugby world champions, lest we forget. And who can forget what Banyana Banyana achieved by finally winning the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations recently.

Further, South Africa is an excellent destination for the film industry due to its magnificent flora and fauna, including world class infrastructure. There have been a number of international movies that were shot in our lovely land. Most, recently the movie Beast was filmed here, which stars Idris Elba, Sharlto Copley, Iyana Halley and a number of South African acts.

At the end of the day, we have a good story to tell the world. We are looking forward to more tourists in the coming spring and summer. This is the time for tourism to flourish, in particular cultural tourism. Branding and investment are key in resuscitating this promising industry.

Marobe is the MD at Poni Global Consulting. The former diplomat has vast experience on foreign policy matters, primarily on regional trade, regional economic integration, international development co-operation and multilateral negotiations.