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Heritage in Tourism Week

17 September 2009 Seminars & free guided excursions from 22-25 September 2009, a Tourism Month event

September is both Tourism and Heritage Month! With this in mind, the Partnerships & Industry Development business unit of the Department of Economic Affairs & Tourism decided to cooperate with the University of KwaZulu-Natal and Department of Sport, Arts & Culture to stage the first ever “Tourism In Heritage” week. The event is packed with informative talks, light lunches for getting to know each other and free guided excursions to selected heritage sites in and around Kimberley, all very accessible and entertaining.
 
You are cordially invited to attend the first “Heritage in Tourism” Week which will take place in Kimberley from 22-25 September 2009.
 
The aim of the “Tourism in Heritage” Week is as follows:
 
- To create strong partnerships beneficial to efforts underway to create strong heritage tourism attractions;
- To benefit from research work done by the University of KwaZulu-Natal in the Northern Cape as it relate to heritage, tourism development and promotion;
- To create a high level of knowledge on local tourism attractions amongst residents who act as hosts to tourists;
- To involve communities in understanding how tourism can improve their lives and community pride;
- Nation building as we strive to create a platform where people from all races can mix informally while tourism development is discussed and venues are toured together in a relaxed atmosphere.
 
Each day will be dedicated to special themes to take the audience on a journey destined to bug the mind for a long time to come. Yes, we are not scared to inject fun into topics considered mundane, even to tackle the controversial. So do not miss out on this unique event – a first of its kind in the Northern Cape!
 
Day 1 will tackle the changing heritage landscape in the province and how partnerships may contribute to the sustainability of our heritage as tourist attractions. A special evening talk will be staged in the historical Australian Arms building at the Big Hole. Here we will put to the test the authenticity of how the Big Hole museum tells the story of early Kimberley. The site visit for the day is a free tour of the Big Hole Museum. Book early as we have only 25 seats available!
 
Day 2 will tackle the stereotype that the Northern Cape is all about “miles and miles of buggerall”.  But is it a simple case of our heritage not being visible to the ordinary eye? And to top it all, the theme of who we really are will be placed in the spotlight. World renowned authority on heritage and media studies, Professor Keyan Tomalselli, will deliver the keynote address at the annual general meeting of the Friends of the Africana Library in the evening. His topic: “Recovering Orality in Video and Print: How Indigenous Stories Become Canonised”.  Sounds heavy but it is not. The excursion for the day will be to XKfm, community radio station for the Xun & Khwe San of Platfontein just outside of Kimberley.
 
Day 3 is solely dedicated to free guided bus tours for all to the various heritage sites of Kimberley and Galeshewe. The bus will leave at 08:30 and again at 13:00. You guessed it – the theme for the day is “Kimberley as a Heritage Tourist Destination”!
 
Day 4. We repeat the guided heritage tours of Kimberley and Galeshewe and all and sundry is invited to hop on the bus for an excellent morning or noon tour. Our theme for the day now shifts to focus on the role of tourist guides in promoting heritage destinations. The site visit for the day will be our latest struggle history project.
 
Our speakers are all experts in their field or post graduate students from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Here is a bit of information on some of them …
 
- Professor Keyan Tomaselli, world authority on heritage and media studies and has supervised a number of post-graduate students on topics tackling heritage as a tourism commodity. Based at the UKZN.
- Udesha Moodley, UKZN post graduate student who researched the Big Hole Museum and how it portrays the history of Kimberley.
- Sephai Mnqolo, based at the McGregor Museum and responsible for struggle history projects.
- Vida Allen, McGregor Museum.
- Khanyiso Mbulawa, McGregor Museum.
- Shane Christians, Department of Sport, Arts & Culture and expert on the struggle history of the Northern Cape.
- Kate Finlay, UKZN post graduate student who researched community-based tourism.
- Lauren Dyll, UKZN student who researched community-based tourism.
- Andre Hall, Department of Sport, Arts & Culture, who was instrumental to have the Richtersveld declared a World Heritage Site.
- David Morris, McGregor Museum and well-know archaeologist and also authority on San rock art.
- Nichlaas Kroone, Caitlin Watson and Jonathan Dockney, UKZN post graduate students who researches the role of film-making in heritage development.
- Shanade Barnabas, UKZN post graduate student who researches San rock art.
- Andre Dicks, UKZN post graduate student who researched health issues and how it impacts community-based development.
- Tom Hart, UKZN post graduate student who researched community radio and how it impacts on community-based development.
- Sunet Swanepoel, McGregor Museum who will talk on a range of conflict sites in the Northern Cape.
- Liz Voight, research associate at the McGregor Museum, who will talk on black concentration camps around Kimberley.
- Shirley James, tourist guide.
- Ronnie Bruce, tourist Guide.
 
Please do not miss out on this exciting event. Please RSVP immediately as the seats are limited. Contact Segomotso Moilwa on 053 807 7495/ E-mail: smoilwa.dtec@gmail.com
 
See you at the first “Tourism in Heritage” Week in Kimberley soon!
 

Johann van Schalkwyk
MANAGER: PARTNERSHIPS & INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT

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