| Summary: | A Dissertation of limited scope submitted to the Faculty of Arts in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the course-work degree of Masters of Recreation and Tourism in the
Department for Recreation and Tourism at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2012. === Cultural heritage tourism refers to travelling to experience the places and activities that
authentically represent the stories and people of the past and present, such activities are found
in living communities, these are signs that the past and present spoken of is authentic and
rooted in the experience of the people.
The importance of this study was to help create cultural heritage awareness among the people
of the Zululand District Municipality. This was to be achieved by focusing on establishing
the potential of cultural heritage tourism and finding out if cultural heritage tourism can be a
driver of rural development. Cultural heritage tourism can be used to generate financial and
social benefits using resources within the communities.
The intention was to find out if the study area does have such cultural heritage resources, if
so, how these resources could contribute to the development of the study area.
The key objectives of this research study were achieved as reflected in Chapter 4. The
objectives of this study are as follows:
To identify cultural heritage resources available in the study area.
To view local communities perception towards cultural heritage tourism development.
To assess the level of participation by the local community in cultural heritage
development.
To discover strategies used by the Zululand District Municipality to transform cultural
heritage assets into tourism products.
To establish the contribution of cultural heritage tourism resources towards the
economic upliftment of the community in the study area.
The findings of the research study revealed that, the study area has cultural heritage
resources which are available but are not utilised to the benefit of the community as yet.
The level of the community participation in the development of cultural heritage tourism
is therefore limited. The major problem with participation is caused by the lack of
involvement in decision making of the respondents; the findings indicate that they are
willing to learn more about cultural heritage tourism which will enhance their capacity to
participate in tourism development.
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