TOURISM
2.3 COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN TOURISM
2.4.2 Cato Manor
sustaining local economic development (Mclntosh Xaba& Associates, 1999). It has also been noted that efforts should be made to ensure that opportunities and income are spread widely and not concentrated in the hands of a few.
Local Economic Development opportunities are envisaged in the areas of tour guiding, tour operators, services, arts and crafts, fresh produce, and employment in the area ofinfrastructure development (McIntosh Xaba & Associates, 1999). It was however pointed out that the benefits of this tourism initiative are long term, and that the local 'community will never benefit unless the project succeeds' (Ntuli, 1999, pers. comm.). The concept ofbenefits, in this instance appear to be viewed from a purely material, monetary basis.
offer some insight:
• The strategy must be owned by local people and integrated into the social fabric of Cato Manor - Community objectives must be understood and any tourism venture should not go contrary to these;
• The skills and capacities oflocal people should be used in the implementation of this strategy -A point which is as pertinent in Georgetown as anywhere else;
• Business principles must be applied in running the community heritage centre -Strict business principles and accountability should be stressedfor any organization which is established in Georgetown orfor the Freedom Experience generally;
• The community heritage centre should be self-financing - Independent sustainable profitability should be encouraged in Georgetown as soon as possible, this could be aided by appropriate community education and training programmes;
• The tourism office should be a community-based venture which reduces reliance on public funding over time - The goal of any aided tourism venture should be a systematic reduction in reliance on outside assistance.
2.5 - Synthesis
In terms ofcurrent policies, prevailing trends in tourism implementation strategies and current inclinations in tourist preferences, there is significant opportunity for tourism development to lead to meaningful community participation, and vise versa. Tourism is growing worldwide, with South Africa seeing a substantial increase in international tourist arrivals.
Anintroduction to some ofthe changes and trends occurring in the tourism industry has been provided. Emphasis has been placed on the importance of involving local communities in the planning, development, and running of tourism initiatives, and general direction for guiding the implementation of meaningful involvement has been suggested.
Combining the above points with current policy and the roles of stakeholders, emphasizes the need for government structures, especially local structures, that have a potential means of including democratically elected community representatives in the decision making process.
This stresses the need for a pro-active government who assists in idea generation, education and information sharing with local communities. Government therefore needs to continue creating an enabling environment in which CBT can operate by tackling the difficulies which face tourism development. This enabling environment needs to be established under the guidance of current policy, especially Local Agenda 21, which should permeate all planning and development activities. In this manner socio-economic development needs to occur whilst subscribing to principles which will provide a sustainable, and where appropriate, functionally preserved future for generations to come.
In order to achieve meaningful development, it is seen as necessary to increase communication between role-players through 'dynamic collaboration', this suggests a flexible arrangement ofinteraction between local government structures and the community. This would hopefully result in a situation where development occurs in line with broader local community objectives, and the community has a strong input into decisions regarding tourism in the area.
There are two broad ways in which government can become involved in the stimulation of tourism development in previously neglected urban areas. The first is that the tourism potential
is recognized by those in government and the community is then encouraged to become involved, and the other is for government to create a broad awareness of tourism and hence try to stimulate creative thinking amongst the community (Seymour, 1999, pers. comm.).
These are not mutually exclusive conditions and should likely occur simultaneously.
South Africa is often faced with the situation where tourism ideas are generated outside ofthe community they actually affect. This is in line with policy recommendations that both provincial, and especially local tourism bodies, identify possibilities and facilitate development for community tourism products (DEAT, 1996). In order for meaningful participation to occur, however, there now needs to be a rapid appraisal of the local context, and ifthe political, social and economic conditions are favourable then the community needs to be included as efficiently as possible. Tourism development should not be able to continue without the support of the local community, through an appropriate community body. This body should have knowledge ofthe community's broad objectives and through them a sense ofownership for the initiative could be developed. This sense ofownership ought to be for the local tourism product, and to a large degree extend to the decisions driving these ideas. This interaction needs to be done in a manner which fosters self-worth and the ability to achieve set objectives. In order to achieve this, community management of the project should be encouraged.
Although these are positive points, there has been considerable caution voiced regarding the ability of tourism to fulfill the wishes which have been placed upon it by many. In light of these warnings it would be prudent to move carefully when developing community-based tourism initiatives, and not place too much emphasis on their ability to be a panacea for development in this country. Tourism strategies could be developed which allow for the incremental development ofthe community as a whole, in an effort to work back to a broader tourism objective which, if successful, could lead to further community development. The objective here would be to encourage community-driven development as a means oflinking with a tourism project, but which is also an end within itself, as it would benefit the community irrespective of the tourism development and lead to a community managed operation. In this manner community development would not be solely reliant on the success of a fickle tourism industry.