Southern Africa and Cultural Heritage: An Assessment of Online Promotion Strategies

Abstract

In terms of cultural heritage, Southern Africa is arguably one of the richest regions. This region has potential for a vibrant cultural heritage tourism sector. Against the background that cultural heritage tourism is a major source of revenue to this region and the need to educate the public on the importance of cultural heritage, we assess the region’s online promotion strategies to the public. We employed qualitative and quantitative analysis of data obtained from cultural heritage organizations of six countries, namely Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia. We assessed the websites of these organizations on the premise of the Information, Communication, Transaction, Relationship and Technical model (ICTRT); social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Instagram were also analysed. Our results show that except for South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA), South Africa, and National Heritage Council of Namibia, most Southern African cultural heritage institutions are struggling to promote cultural heritage online. Given the increased online activities as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic, we also show that for most Southern African cultural heritage bodies, this has not yet positively affected their online marketing activities. Based on these results, we recommend that concerned organizations should increase online visibility geared towards aggressive marketing approaches.