| Summary: | Partnerships and networks are touted by stakeholders who exist beyond the spheres of destination communities as catalytic to mutually beneficial outcomes of cultural tourism. Little attention is however paid to the views and attitudes of host communities with regards to the existence of partnerships and networks in cultural tourism. This is despite the fact that local residents should play an equal and active role in decision making processes that affect them. Additionally, it is noteworthy that when tourism receipts and benefits are enumerated, they are considered by policy makers as appropriated to the local people, who happen to be at the centre of driving cultural tourism as owners and custodians of culture. The study seeks to bring host communities into the cultural tourism discourse in Zimbabwe by firstly, having them to share their understanding and existence of partnerships and networks; secondly the perceived benefits that they see as possibly arising from partnerships and networks in cultural tourism and thirdly, the factors impeding the form and functionality of partnerships and networks that should mutually benefit a wide range of stakeholders in the new normal era. The study takes a qualitative research approach with interviews being treated as the primary method of collecting data. The data was thematically analysed. The study took place at the Great Zimbabwe National Monument, a World Heritage Site. The research is deemed to be of importance in guiding policies that assist the improvement of participation of host communities in decision making processes that affect their livelihoods in particular and regional economies in general.
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