The theme of the conference was, “African Tourism in a Global Society: Central or Peripheral?”, with an emphasis on the phenomenal growth and importance of tourism within Africa. It also highlighted the indispensable role the Heritage and Cultural Tourism sector is playing as a contributor to the GDP of countries across Africa as well as beyond in Europe and the East.

The conference also provided an excellent opportunity for international networking for the on-going UP & National Department of Tourism (NDT) collaborative research project. In this regard it is of significance to mention that more than 150 participants from about 20 countries from all over the world attended the conference. Wyllie presented a paper entitled “Politics and Practicalities of Cross-Border Guiding in Southern Africa”, and Boonzaaier presented on “The Significance of Cultural Villages in the Conservation of Heritage”.

Many of the participants were from African countries and a large majority represented the East African region. It became apparent that these nations are adopting tourism strategies such as cross-border development in order to improve their economic growth. This serves to endorse the direction heritage and cultural tourism is taking within our own region and also aligns directly with NDT policy focus and the focus of the UP-NDT research project.