Cultural Issues

 Whatever happened to Cultural Tourism?

 

One of the issues worth investigating is how the creative arts and culture have been developing in the rural areas, the smaller towns and in Kampala, Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam. When in Kampala recently, I did not have enough time to go into the crafts shops opposite the High Court to see the crafts on offer and to discover the makers.  The location of the crafts centre near the main hotels appears to be a splendid decision; tourists do go there with their wallets stuffed with dollars and pound sterling. I will be asking the appropriate Government department to send some information. However, are prices likely to curtail the interest of local buyers? There are a couple of crafts shops in the Sheraton Hotel. A few ‘pieces’ were on sale but prices were sky-high. One is reminded of the phenomenal amount of travel advertising in the UK media.  Promotions feature the rich heritage of India and Pakistan, the exciting developments in Dubai, the forthcoming attractions in China and the powerful imagery of Buddhist culture in Thailand, for example. Then the advertisers’ cameras inevitably move to Africa, but only to cover the wildlife in safari parks- not in itself a disputable matter but why are tourism providers not promoting African culture? Is there a package of cultural work that tour companies can promote if they wanted to?

 

Another area of interest is the development of performing and visual arts. The National Theatre seemed to be busy but there was no information in the newspapers about the type of activities that the theatre is developing. The theatre would be a good place to start finding out.