Cultural tourism kaleidoscope: Lessons from China and South Africa

Abstract

Culture as kaleidoscope keeps communities and local culture to the margins, whilst taking into account multiple cultural dimensions that encourage sustainability. This paper will argue for the municipalisation of cultural policy, with the view to improve creative economies for rural and urban areas, whilst promoting among others, modern and traditional products as well as new sources of wealth creation and sustainable cultural tourism. Although a culture of travel amongst domestic tourists or people in a country remains one of the challenges in the tourism sector, particularly in the developing countries, there is a need to promote a culture of travel and cultural tourism to maximise the tourism benefits. An interpretive social sciences paradigm was adopted through ethnographic representation in China and South Africa. It is against this backdrop that this paper argues for new people-based and community-centred cultural policies that contribute substantively to sustainable cultural tourism, local economic development, and liveable rural and urban areas.

Keywords

• cultural kaleidoscope
• cultural policy; tourism policy
• municipalisation
• tourism benefits.