Cultural tourism and the role of crafts in Southern Africa: The case of craft markets in Windhoek, Namibia

Southern African countries have a good cultural tourism development potential, and many countries in the region have identified the development of cultural tourism as one of the key growth areas in tourism. A specific element of cultural tourism is based on crafts that are sold for visitors in various sites and market places. Crafts and craft markets are relatively visible in the Southern African tourism landscape. While these sites have the potential to provide a significant amount of employment and economic benefits, they have been relatively little studied in the region. This paper aims to focus on craft tourism and craft markets as a specific form of and attraction site for cultural tourism. The empirical example utilizes a mixed method case study approach by looking at tourists' craft consumption at a selected market site in Windhoek, Namibia. According to the results the direct economic impacts were relatively modest in monetary terms. In general the interviewed tourists valued the local character of the crafts but only half of them indicated that they would prefer the locally-made aspect as the key selection criterion of a purchase. It is concluded that this emphasis can influence negatively on the local sustainability of craft-based cultural tourism.