Cultural players need to benefit from cultural tourism

Raisedon Baya

RECENTLY, Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo, with partners, launched the Masiyephambili Dialogue Series. The Dialogue Series is a platform for the creative sector to interact and interface with policymakers and other influencers in a bid to create more synergies and plug-ins for creative people so they can benefit and monetise on available national opportunities.

The first interface was with Minister of Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Honourable Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu. During this interface Intwasa made submissions on cultural tourism premised on the need to make national festivals drivers of cultural tourism. Properly organised and supported national festivals can play a pivotal role in promoting both tangible and intangible heritage. There are about ten (10) strong national festival brands that the country can use to promote cultural tourism.

Part of the submissions by Intwasa asked pertinent questions like:

1. What are the real and imagined business opportunities for creatives in the tourism sector?

2. What exactly is the creative sector selling as part of cultural tourism?

3. Who is the target market for the goods and services the creative sector is producing for cultural tourism?

It was also noted that tourists do not travel to just see buildings and rivers and animals, but more often than not travel for the stories and experiences. It is these stories and experiences we should sell more. As communities or cities we should be seen to be selling more of our:

(1). Local foods and beverages (Culinary arts)

(2). Arts and culture — music, literature, performance arts, fashion and more

(3). Our way of life — how we live, where we live, who we are as people or as a city.

There is talk of Bulawayo as the cultural hub, with submissions to President  Mnangagwa to make it the official cultural capital of the of the country but as a city have we really stopped to think about what this all means. What are the advantages of it being turned into a cultural capital? And how can the city leverage on this to attract tourists into the city and have every player benefit.

Besides the creative engaging the parent ministry they also need to engage all the players and see where they can plug in. This is very important.  While individual creatives can engage we believe institutions, the likes of Amakhosi, Iyasa, National Art Gallery in Bulawayo, Intwasa, Amagugu Cultural Heritage, Mzilikazi Arts and Crafts Centre should be at the forefront of this drive to have arts and culture players sitting at the same table with other tourism players.

Bearing in mind that tourism is not just about foreigners flocking into our country but also includes locals visiting and enjoying tourism packages as well, and so the creative sector needs an effective strategy to harvest available opportunities in cultural tourism. The practice of dancing at the airport and placing arts and culture on the periphery of a big industry such as tourism must stop. Creative sector players must sit on the table and have their share of the cake.  

Very disappointing is the fact that we are currently selling cultural tourism, especially in Bulawayo, packaged as four destinations or products and these are Matopos, the two museums and Khami ruins. This is obviously a one-sided approach and only covers tangible heritage. Yet cultural tourism also includes intangible heritage — where our music, our literature, our galleries and its artists, our festivals, our indigenous foods and beverages, fashion, and general lifestyles are covered.

Intwasa acknowledged that Bulawayo is a cosmopolitan city where many tribes and communities reside; AmaNdebele, Kalangas, Suthus, Shonas, those of Zambian and Malawi origins, Coloureds, Indians, whites and others. It is therefore, important that when the city talks of tourism it talks about a diverse collection of cultural goods and services — not just one or two. The city must create a complete package for tourists and every player in the industry should be aware of these diverse goods and services and help market them.