From plan to practice: An evaluation of heritage tourism strategies and implementation challenges in Sekhukhune District Municipality

Abstract

Background: Heritage tourism is a mechanism for rural development, poverty reduction and cultural preservation in South Africa, but implementation gaps prevent it from being effective.
Aim: The aim was to identify challenges in implementing the heritage tourism strategy.
Setting: The study was conducted in Sekhukhune District Municipality (SDM), Limpopo, from a community-based tourism (CBT) perspective.
Method: Semi-structured interviews were used with four participants, including community leaders and officials from SDM, from Sekhukhune Development Agency and Limpopo Tourism Agency. Data were analysed thematically using NVivo.
Results: Sekhukhune District Municipality’s cultural assets or heritage are not developed and poorly marketed. Governance is fragmented, with community involvement and participation largely tokenistic. Therefore, even newly imagined socio-economic opportunities, such as job creation or development of small businesses as the process evolves, are not realised.
Conclusion: Addressing the plan–practice gap needs participatory governance; community empowerment and equitable benefit-sharing; and a level of coordination and cohesion which includes masterplans, marketing and promotion, investment in infrastructure and structure and plan, and provision of community forums.
Contribution: The study contributes to the discourse on sustainable rural tourism by applying a CBT lens to diagnose implementation gaps in heritage tourism planning. It further advances tourism planning frameworks by demonstrating practical relevance for aligning local tourism governance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 8 and SDG 11) in rural South Africa.