Identity, heritage and tourism: the memorialisation of Joshua Nkomo in Zimbabwe.

Abstract

Tourism can be significantly influenced by iconic individuals, both historical and contemporary. These individuals can act as magnets of tourism drawing visitors to a destination for them to experience a feeling of connection with the iconic person or what they stand for. The relationship between the state and the transformation of iconic individuals into tourism products has an important effect on the way tourism is experienced and perceived. The state and tourism organisations often use iconic individuals to promote the country to the world and shape the way tourists view and engage with a destination. Therefore, it is important to study the implication of transforming iconic individuals into a tourism product. This study explored the interplay of identity, heritage and tourism in turning the late Joshua Nkomo’s memoir, a significant political figure in Zimbabwean history, into a tourism attraction and even destination. Joshua Nkomo, a popular nationalist during his lifetime, was a key player in Zimbabwe's anti-colonialism struggles from the late 1950s to independence in 1980. Nkomo served in several post-independence government capacities in Zimbabwe, but his most notable position was that of Vice-President, which he held until his death in July 1999. The main aim of the study was to comprehend the complexities and implications of transforming the legacies of a political actor, whose biography was both ascribed with notions of villain and heroism in post-colonial Zimbabwe, into a tourism brand. The study adopted a qualitative research approach where data were collected from both primary and secondary sources. Purposive sampling and semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with fifty participants who included government agencies, tour operators, tourists, and local communities. Information from theories, including the Identity Theory, Social Identity Theory, Social Constructionism Theory, and Critical Heritage studies served as the guiding framework for the study. The results show that Joshua Nkomo received the same memorialization benefits upon his death that are typically given to people of his stature in Zimbabwe as "national heroes," but attempts made after the year 2000 to further this memorialization by turning him into a tourism brand have raised questions and problems not conventionally related to brand creation in cultural heritage tourism. The findings indicate that political actors produce tourism brands through contestations that occasionally pit politics and history against traditional tourism and brand creation techniques. While worldwide, a country's relationship with others is vital in the formation of a brand, in Zimbabwe, historical legacies play a significant role in influencing the attitudes of local tourists. Conflict in the tourism industry is inevitable at every stage of product development. Therefore, involving all stakeholders in Zimbabwe's heritage management and tourist development was found to be the best approach to tackle such challenges. The study concludes that multivocalism/a variety of viewpoints is a key component of value addition in the growth and advancement of heritage tourism. Therefore, the government should foster individual and group identities by providing public areas for people to memorialize their loved ones in a way that is meaningful to them. Joshua Nkomo’s memorialisation in the form of museums, a statue monument and a grave had a significant impact on the country’s tourism landscape just as he was loved by both his family and multitudes of Zimbabweans.