Rural Tourism as a Mechanism for Poverty Alleviation in Kwa-Zulu-Natal Province of South Africa: Case of Bergville.

• Main Authors: Dr Burney Mthembu, Dr. Emmanuel Mutambara
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: AfricaJournals 2018-08-01
• Series: African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure
• Subjects: Tourism; Rural Tourism; Rural Areas; Poverty; Poverty Alleviation; Bergville
• Online Access: https://www.ajhtl.com/uploads/7/1/6/3/7163688/article_58_vol_7_4__2018.pdf

The case of rural tourism and community development has been made in general terms with less focus on poverty alleviation and more emphasis on economic modernisation. Recently, a link between rural tourism and poverty alleviation has been emphasised in the contemporary tourism and poverty alleviation literature. The study employed a quantitative method in which a combination of two types of research data that includes secondary data from literature study and the fieldwork as primary data from questionnaires. Questionnaires were distributed to a sample of 330 participants. The findings of the study showed that Bergville has a potential of using tourism development as a viable formula for poverty alleviation. In addition, the study revealed that Bergville has the existing tourism management practices that can contribute towards the improvement of the quality of lives of local people ultimately alleviating poverty. However, on the ground, the Bergville community face abject poverty, which could be alleviated through tourism. Thus, the study recommended that for tourism to contribute towards job opportunities, entrepreneurial skills and income generation, there is need for the local municipality to strengthen partnerships with the local business sector stakeholders and policy makers to ensure a faster tourism development process. Mindful of the fact that Kwa-Zulu Natal province is predominantly rural but rich in tourism the study recommends the need for investing in rural development aligned to the principles of sustainability and responsible tourism as a mechanism to fight the War on Poverty. This proposal may not be panacea to the overall rural tourism development constraints but concerted efforts to curtail challenges of meaningful and output related partnerships between the government, industry and communities. The inadequate articulation of the opportunities and policy imperatives including incentives and regulations presents a short changed approach within the means of improving the lives of the people in the tourism value chain.