A Heritage and Cultural Tourism Destination
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MAKING GABORONE A STOP AND NOT A STOP-OVER: A HERITAGE AND CULTURAL TOURISM DESTINATION by Jane Thato Dewah (Student No: 12339556) A Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MAGISTER HEREDITATIS CULTURAEQUE SCIENTIAE (HERITAGE AND CULTURAL STUDIES) (TOURISM) In the Department of Historical and Heritage Studies at the Faculty of Humanities University of Pretoria SUPERVISOR: Prof. K.L Harris December 2014 DECLARATION OF AUTHENTICITY I, the undersigned, hereby declare that the work contained in this thesis is my own original work and has not been submitted previously at any other university for a degree. ............................................... Signature Jane Thato Dewah ................................................ Date ii Abstract The main objective of the study was to identify cultural heritage sites in and around Gaborone which could serve as tourist attractions. Gaborone, the capital city of Botswana, has been neglected in terms of tourism, although it has all the facilities needed to cater for this market. Very little information with regards to tourist attractions around Gaborone is available and therefore this study set out to identify relevant sites and discussed their history, relevance and potential for tourism. It also considers ways in which these sites can be developed in order to attract tourists. Due to its exclusive concentration on wildlife and the wilderness, tourism in Botswana tends to benefit only a few. Moreover, it is mainly concentrated in the north western region of the country, leaving out other parts of the country in terms of the tourism industry. To achieve the main objective of the study, which is to identify sites around the capital city Gaborone and to evaluate if indeed the sites have got the potential to become tourist attractions, three models have been used. They have been integrated to form a new composite model to apply to this study, namely: Du Cros’s “Market Appeal/Robusticity model”; Jamieson’s “challenges of heritage and cultural tourism”; and lastly Butler’s “Tourism area life cycle”. Keywords: Gaborone, Botswana tourism, heritage and cultural tourism, heritage sites, preservation, African history, Sustainable tourism iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to sincerely extend my heart-felt thanks and gratitude and humble appreciation to the following people for their encouragement, inspiration and support that helped me in completing my studies: My parents who are retired but sacrificed the little resources they had to fund my studies. My parents did not only help me financially but in many other ways. I managed to complete my studies because I knew they were taking care of my son with all the love and comfort, and for this I will forever be grateful. To my sister Dr. Zitha Mokomane, I thank you for your continued support throughout my studies; I don’t know how I could have done it without you. To my one and only big brother Sayi Dewah for all the time I would call you unexpectedly to ask for some money and for being such a great uncle to Themba. Equally very important to my studies is my supervisor Prof. Harris, thank you for always believing in me even when I didn’t really believe in myself, for encouraging me and for giving me all the support. To my son Themba, who is my pillar of strength and the love of my life. This dissertation is dedicated to him. Although I was away from my son, this is a way of paving a brighter and better future for you my boy, and I do hope we will soon be reaping the fruits of my sleepless nights. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF AUTHENTICITY ...................................................................................... II ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................... IV TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................ V ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................... X CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 1.1 Concept definition .......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Gaborone, Botswana and Tourism ............................................................................... 11 1.3. Objectives of the Study ................................................................................................. 16 CHAPTER 2- LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................... 19 2.1 Botswana and wildlife/wilderness and safari hunting tourism .................................... 19 2.2 Ecotourism and Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) and Village Tourism ......................................................................................................................... 22 2.3 Heritage and cultural tourism management policies in Botswana .............................. 26 2.4 Gaborone and Botswana tourism ................................................................................. 29 CHAPTER 3-HISTORY OF TOURISM IN BOTSWANA........................................................... 32 3.1 Pre-colonial Botswana .................................................................................................. 32 3.2 Bechuanaland Protectorate .......................................................................................... 35 3.3 Liberation struggles....................................................................................................... 41 3.4 Independent Botswana ................................................................................................. 44 3.5 Tourism policy and Acts ................................................................................................ 47 CHAPTER 4 - METHODOLOGY AND ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK ........................................ 52 4.1 Market appeal/robusticity model ................................................................................. 52 4.2 Jamieson’s factors that enhance heritage and cultural tourism .................................. 56 4.3 Butlers Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC) ......................................................................... 57 CHAPTER 5: PROFILE OF SITES AROUND GABORONE .................................................. 62 5.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 62 5.2. Profile of sites ............................................................................................................... 63 5.2.1 Three Dikgosi (Chiefs) Monument ............................................................................ 64 5.2.2 Bonnington silos ........................................................................................................ 69 5.2.3 Livingstone Memorial ................................................................................................ 72 5.2.4 Livingstone’s Tree ...................................................................................................... 77 5.2.5 Manyana rock paintings ................................................................................................ 79 5.2.6 Mma Sechele cave ........................................................................................................ 82 5.2.7 Matsieng footprints ...................................................................................................... 85 5.2.8 Mogonye Gorges ........................................................................................................... 88 5.2.9 Ntsweng ....................................................................................................................... 91 5.2.10 Kobokwe Cave (Livingstone’s Cave) ..................................................................... 93 5.2.11 Lentswe la Baratani (Baratani Hill) ....................................................................... 95 v 5.3 Market appeal of the sites ............................................................................................ 97 CHAPTER 6: ENHANCEMENT OF HERITAGE AND CULTURAL TOURISM ........................... 100 6.1 Mutual Lack of Knowledge: The cultural and heritage sector and the tourism sector do not know enough about each other. ................................................................................ 100 6.2 Lack of formal linkages................................................................................................ 104 6.3 Culture and heritage ambivalence towards tourism .................................................. 106 6.4 Lack of knowledge of economic impact/profit sharing .............................................. 113 6.5 Lack of resources ........................................................................................................ 116 6.6 Lack of expertise: ........................................................................................................ 118 6.7 Distance/Access .......................................................................................................... 120 6.8 Lack of ready product ................................................................................................