The Brief
KWETHU! HERITAGE TOURISM INITIATIVE
Since the dawn of democracy, the tourism industry has focused primarily on two things in selling holidays to KwaZulu-Natal: the natural landscape and African culture, and battle fields. African communities have been involved in tourism however, their “identity” as tourist attractions rather than tourism managers has to some extent marginalised them from the control of their own cultural expression. Heritage tourism has the potential to help develop both rural and township tourism at the same able and facilitate shared dialogues around issues and challenges related to oral history, local history, and heritage site preservation.