!Xun and Khwe Cultural Villages in Platfontein (South Africa). Recommendations for action for a community. Based Tourim Project

Abstract

The aim of the thesis is to provide recommendations for action in order to commercialise the recently completed cultural villages of two San (Bushmen) communities living in the province of the Northern Cape of South Africa. These cultural villages are intended to become an integral part of the Northern Cape¿s tourism sector. The motivation for the research is the lack of the two communities¿ tourism knowledge and also of the assisting non-governmental organisation, the South African San Insitute. Tourism is a flourishing sector in South Africa and contributes significantly to the Gross Domestic Product. South Africa¿s cultural diversity has gained increasing interest from national and international tourists. Cultural tourism offers the diverse ethnical groups the possibility to share their cultures with tourists and thus earn an income. The framework of the thesis is a three-dimensional analysis which enables one to give reasonable recommendations in order to begin operations of the two San cultural villages. The first dimension consists of an analysis of other four San community-based tourism businesses (benchmarking objects) which are located in South Africa and Namibia. The research focuses on the extended marketing mix. Negative and positive aspects of the applied marketing concept of each benchmarking object are identified. The two San communities living in the Northern Cape represent the second dimension of the analysis. It is prerequisite to take into consideration the expectations of the cultural villages as well as inter- and intra-communal problems. The last dimension captures the tourists¿ perspectives. Tour operators are contacted in order to find out about tourists¿ expectations of a visit to a San cultural village. An integral part of the thesis is the assessment of the two San cultural villages. The focus lies on the determination of their strengths and weaknesses as well as opportunities and threats. Recommendations based on the thesis¿ results are provided to the San communities and to the non-governmental organisation, South African San Institute.