Turn culture into tourism, jobs – CST speaker

Namibia should move beyond simply preserving its cultural heritage and instead turn traditional sports, living heritage and creative expression into tourism products that create jobs and income for local communities.

This is according to Erling Kavita, Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) executive director for academic development and support and satellite campuses, who spoke at last week’s Creative, Sport and Tourism (CST) Expo.

Kavita made the call during a workshop titled Culture in Motion: Traditional Sports, Heritage and Tourism, where he outlined opportunities to use culture and heritage to strengthen Namibia’s tourism value chain.

He said cultural tourism can help create distinctive destinations, strengthen local livelihoods, connect young people with their heritage and make the tourism sector more resilient by diversifying the country’s tourism offerings. 

He referenced Namibia’s National Strategy on Sustainable Heritage Tourism Development and Employment Creation Opportunities at Community Level 2020-2030, which seeks to accelerate tourism’s contribution to economic development, broaden its social inclusiveness and strengthen cultural values, environmental protection, diversity and heritage management. 

Kavita said implementation should include mapping heritage sites, stories, traditional skills, food, crafts, games and cultural landscapes, followed by the development of authentic visitor experiences together with communities.

He advised those in attendance to link cultural products to destination branding, digital storytelling, tourism routes and markets while creating opportunities for guides, performers, craftspeople, coaches, creators and small businesses. 

Kavita highlighted young people as potential traditional-sport coaches, cultural guides, storytellers, performers, creative entrepreneurs, digital creators and archivists. Communities could benefit through crafts, fashion, cuisine, festivals, homestays and other local services. 

“This would require collaboration between government, communities, tourism operators, the creative and sports sectors, academia and the private sector, with communities remaining custodians, co-designers and beneficiaries of cultural tourism,” he said.