Township tourism as an agent for the socio-economic well-being of residents
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Date
2019
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Editorial Office African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure , Helderkruin, South Africa
Abstract
The development of township tourism has created contradicting views amongst researchers with two different schools of thought emerging (Kieti & Magio, 2013:38; Rogerson, 2015:320; Booyens,
2010:377). One school holds that township tourism exploits the poor and uses their living conditions as a tourist attraction, while the other suggests it is a tool to improve the local economy by combating
poverty and encouraging understanding of how other people live (Kieti & Magio, 2013:38; Rogerson,2015:320; Booyens, 2010:377). In Namibia, the residents are often the objects of tourism development
rather than the ones that spearhead the process of tourism development (Saarinen, 2010:722). While the tourists’ motives to visit townships is for the social interaction with the residents in search of
authentic experiences (Diekmann & Hannam, 2012:1331), authenticity is often compromised in township tours, where tourists are taken on artificial tours in the townships with little interaction with the
residents (Booyens, 2010:277). Mutual respect and understanding between the residents and the tourists will reduce the situation, where residents feel they are the objects of the tourists’ gazes (Frisch,
2012:336). Academic literature has shown that there is a relationship between the residents’ perceived benefits derived from township tourism and their attitudes towards tourism development, where
residents will support township tourism if they benefit from it (Kieti & Magio, 2013:39). According to Rogerson (2015:321), most of the academic research on tourism in Africa is focused on rural tourism
development and there is a need for further investigation on the subject of township tourism. This paper presents a review of literature on township tourism and sustainable tourism, filling a small gap in the field of township tourism.
Description
Keywords
Township tourism, Sustainable tourism, Socio-economic, Interaction, Benefits
Citation
Auala , L.S.N., Van Zyl, S.R., Ferreira, I.W. (2019). Township tourism as an agent for the socio-economic well-being of residents. African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, Volume 8 (2)