Heritage sites as tourism attractions: Spiritual, psychological and emotional toll on communities

Koedoe - African Protected Area Conservation and Science

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Heritage sites as tourism attractions: Spiritual, psychological and emotional toll on communities
 
Creator Shabalala, Lombuso P.
 
Subject Cultural Heritage Tourism attractions; culture; custodians; descendants; heritage; local communities; Mapungubwe World Heritage Site; tourism.
Description The study, conducted within the Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape (MCL), had two aims: (1) to establish the reasons why domestic tourists, in particular descendants, do not view World Heritage Sites as tourism attractions and (2) to advocate for the importance of engaging the descendants at a spiritual, psychological and emotional level. It adopted a qualitative method, whereby observations and interviews were conducted with traditional leaders of the six groups of the Mapungubwe descendants. Purposive sampling, also known as judgemental, selective or subjective sampling, was applied in the form of in-depth interviews and a group discussion with each leader of the six descendant groups. Only one group opted for a group discussion rather than an individual interview with their leader because they wanted a representation of their Tribal Council members since their Chief had passed away and their new leader was yet to be inaugurated. The study established that (1) descendants do not view MCL as a tourist attraction but rather as a solemn place where their ancestors are laid to rest and (2) descendants are in pain because they lost the land of their forefathers, which was demarcated into farms by the colonial government before being declared as protected areas. The stated findings suggest that losing their forefathers’ land led to a sense of loss and disconnection from their cultural and spiritual heritage.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor University of South Africa, Wits University, Mapungubwe Descendants, nGAP (DHET & UMP) Gabriella, Dr Nkomo and Dr Ndlovu
Date 2024-08-30
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Qualitative method
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/koedoe.v66i2.1800
 
Source Koedoe; Vol 66, No 2 (2024); 8 pages 2071-0771 0075-6458
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://koedoe.co.za/index.php/koedoe/article/view/1800/3366 https://koedoe.co.za/index.php/koedoe/article/view/1800/3367 https://koedoe.co.za/index.php/koedoe/article/view/1800/3368 https://koedoe.co.za/index.php/koedoe/article/view/1800/3369
 
Coverage Protected areas, World Heritage Sites — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2024 Lombuso P. Shabalala https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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