Abstract
Heritage tourism is a significant contemporary facet of tourism in many
developing countries. This paper analyses the economic opportunities for battlefield-
heritage tourism in South Africa by examining the battlefields route within
KwaZulu-Natal. Through structured interviews with stakeholders and structured
questionnaires with visitors and local residents, this research explores the understanding
of heritage tourism as well as perceptions of its influence on the physical
landscape and gauges the importance of this form of tourism as a driver for
local economic development in South Africa. Dundee, a small coal-mining town
in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa – where several battlefields are found, is used as
a case study. The study demonstrates that several issues need to be addressed if
this niche of cultural and heritage tourism is to be a sustainable and responsible
form of tourism in South Africa.