Abstract:
Residents are an integral stakeholder in any tourism destination and
understanding their sentiments on any tourism activity within their
locality is very critical. Although local people are the most affected by
tourism development at such places, there is a deficit of research on
the local communities’ perceptions on the impacts of and changes to
their communities due to World Heritage Site (WHS) operations. Thus,
the study sought to assess residents’ sentiments towards cultural
heritage tourism at Chongoni Rock Art Heritage sites. Data were
collected from 35 respondents who were purposively selected from
three villages surrounding the WHS. Data were thematically analysed
and the main theme that emerged was a lack of community
involvement in tourism activities at the sites which has destroyed
heritage assets. The findings contribute to the extant literature on local
communities’ participation and perceptions of tourism development at
WHS. The study recommends residents’ participation as one way of
empowering the local community and enhancing economic benefits
from tourism
