Moving township tourism away from ‘poverty porn’ to an economic goldmine
Moving township tourism away from ‘poverty porn’ to an economic goldmine
Clad in sunglasses, hats and sturdy walking shoes, tourists carefully navigate around shacks and portable toilets on the steep narrow roads of Imizamo Yethu, the informal settlement in Hout Bay, Cape Town, on of the many township tours the Mother City offers. Promises of an authentic experience and a chance to see how the locals live is a selling point for tourism operators in some of the country’s most famous townships.
Tourism is a crucial growth sector in South Africa, a source of foreign currency and job creation. It contributed 2.8% to South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2017, or R130-billion — more than the agriculture, forestry and fisheries industries.
Regarding job creation, 64 000 new positions were created by the travel industry between 2014 and 2017, outperforming larger sectors such as transport and communication, mining and construction, coming close behind the financial and business services industry, according to Statistics South Africa.
Many foreign tourists are looking for something authentic, but out of ordinary, which is what Mthombo’s provides.
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