The economic measures established to rebuild the South African cultural heritage tourism after the COVID-19 impact

Abstract

Cultural heritage tourism such as museum, art festival, historic theme parks, heritage sites, and arts festivals are becoming more prominent because of the potential for local economic development. Several African countries, like South Africa, place a high priority on the promotion of historical tourism. Cultural and heritage tourism is being promoted as a viable business opportunity in South Africa which has tremendously grown. Tourism has suffered as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent quarantine measures, with tourism service providers, transportation companies, and state budgets among the worst-affected sectors of the economy as a result of COVID-19 social distancing measures, travel restrictions, and prohibitions on large gatherings of people. This paper sourced data from existing academic works, government documents and newsletters on how COVID-19 has economically impacted cultural heritage tourism and what actions the government has taken to re-establish the industry and boost the economy of South Africa. The study revealed that the government has a recovery tourism plan that can ensure sustainable cultural heritage tourism remains and the tourism sector in South Africa is stabilizing after the lifting of the national state of disaster in 4 April, 2022. The paper recommends a carefully designed budget plan to sustain cultural heritage tourism as well as long-term improvements and development strategies for the sector to draw in more visitors and grow the economy.