Art tourism growing in Botswana
As the year 2021 proceeds it has been a year and a half of unprecedented times since the start of the Covid- 19 nightmare. We can now see globally how countries are slowly re- opening their borders. This comes at a time when Batswana has had to appreciate the country’s tourism in its various forms- conversations about Art and preservation of culture as tourism product development is growing. There are inspirational stories of a Motswana who sells art pieces in America for up to 8 million Pula. In the past Museums historically catered for local art publics, but today there is a need to cater for the growing touring of art in open places, art tourism in this way is a new field of tourist studies in the country.
Art tourism can be broadly defined as any activity that involves travel to see art and largely encompasses people who travel specifically to see art in a foreign place as well as those who often or occasionally include visits to see art alongside other activities during tours, holidays, or other trips away from their typical home. Over the past few decades, Art tourism has grown, and the possibility of viewing Art being one of their biggest influencing factors for making travelling decisions. Visual Arts within Art Tourism has also stood the test of time as tangible cultural heritage. There is currently a need for a comprehensive partnership between culture and the tourism industry in Botswana for further growth. Currently, the government of Botswana is working towards reviving the relationship between art and tourism through platforms such as the newly- established National Arts Council whose mandate is to contribute to the growth of Arts as an industry in Botswana. In terms of digitising, cultural heritage photography has of late become a medium of art that is used to market Botswana to the rest of the world through organisations such as the Botswana Tourism Organisation ( BTO) and some popular local and international photographers. It is time for the average Motswana to realise that there is a deep and enduring connection between indigenous people to the history, lands, arts, and culture of Botswana that serve as tourism products requiring valorisation thus moving away from Nature tourism dominance as the main selling point of tourism in Botswana.
There are opportunities for the development of Art as a form of tourism in a way that contributes to diversifying the tourism product development as can be seen in the Hangzhou Declaration of 2013 that places culture at the heart of development and sustainability within countries. Written in collaboration with Maungo Seabenyane – Motswana Artist
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