Cape Town’s Township tourism: a case study of Langa

Abstract

The quest for authentic experiences has become a key expectation by tourists engaging in township tourism. Authentic local culture, lifestyles and customs combine to form part of what the contemporary tourist is looking for, thus becoming a valuable commodity in the tourism industry. However, the notion of ‘authenticity’ in township tourism is a complex phenomenon because of the subjectivities associated with it. Slum tourism has been widely recognised in many countries as it stimulates economic activity, assists to alleviate poverty, and raise the living standards. Conversely, for host communities to continue benefiting from these tours, the principles of sustainability need to be embraced. The study sought to investigate scheduled tours in a selected township in Cape Town to determine how tourism impacts can be sustained, and offer visitor authentic experiences. To achieve this, in-depth face-to-face, structured interviews were conducted with twenty purposively and conveniently selected residents. The qualitative data was analysed using the constant comparative method approach. The findings revealed that township tours can be sustained when local municipalities, together with the relevant attractions, such as museums, consider exhibiting authentic township life, artefacts and images in the museums. It also notes the importance of training, and support in the form of funding as interventions to transform the tourism industry, and to achieve the targets set by government. This study informs tourism developers to develop policies that will allow for sustainable township tourism.