Abstract

This study was designed to Examine the role of Cultural Tourism on Heritage Preservation in Botaland and Wovia Communities. The objectives of the study were to identify the cultural heritage assets of the Wovia clan and examine their attributes, examine the impact of the exploitation of the cultural heritage sites on the community, analyze the problems affecting the development of cultural tourism in the villages, propose measures to preserve the heritage sites to ensure the development of sustainable tourism in the clan.

The study targeted all inhabitants of Bimbia and Limbe III council workers. The sample consisted of 80 respondents. Data was collected and analysed quantitatively and qualitatively using descriptive and inferential statistics and thematic analysis.

The analysed data was in SPSS (21.0) then presented using tables, charts, means and percentages for descriptive purposes. Findings suggested that natural heritage sites present at the Botaland and Wovia include caves, island, rivers, shrines and hills. Festivals practices such as Mamiwater dance, nyango na muna Libation and Limu ritual were also common.

Major activities carried out during the festivals period were dancing, wrestling and canoe race. The major challenges facing heritage tourism development in Botaland and Wovia communities were the absence of intra marriages among many indigenes, the slow losing of the native languages as many youths prefer to communicate in Queens’s language and the lingua franca and they are not being brought up with the native language and the lack of knowledge of the present generation about their rich culture were major challenges faced in the preservation of the Wovia and Botaland culture.

The study revealed that cultural heritage activities such as organise tour visits to the islands and caves, boat cruising around the islands and frequent host of canoe racing competitions among villagers and neighbouring villages encourage the promotion of tourism within your villages by generated income for the communities, which is often used for developmental projects within the village like the purchase of canoes and other racing equipment’s, life jackets have been provided and made available for tourist during visits to the islands.

Trough regularly organising cultural events within the village, encouraged the inter-village cultural competitions and promotes the participation in the Limbe Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC) were the communities are allowed to showcase their cultures, natives of the villages should stick to getting married to their native women to preserve their culture which can be easily passed on to their children. it was recommended that training workshops and educational programmes should be organised in the Wovia communities to educate the residents on the importance and benefits of preservation of cultural heritage sites.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Cultural tourism refers to a segment of the industry that places special interest on cultural attractions. These attractions are varied and include performance, museums, displays and the like (WTO, 1975).  Cultural heritage tourism is a branch of tourism oriented towards the cultural heritage of a location where tourism is occurring.

The National Trust defines heritage Tourism as ‘traveling to experience the places, artifacts and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past and present. It includes cultural, historic and natural resources’ (National Trust for Historic preservation, 2008).

Cultural tourism is one of the fastest growing forms of tourism in the world today as culture is increasingly used to promote destinations and enhance their competitiveness and attractiveness. The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is making significant efforts in preserving heritage sites in different parts of the world and such sites are areas of ‘‘Outstanding Universal Value’’. In the phase of globalisation, many cultural niches are actively developing their tangible and intangible assets as part of the means to boost rural livelihoods and eliminate mass poverty.

Culture and heritage tourism have become tools of economic development that could leverage economic growth by attracting visitors from outside the community and such visitors are often motivated by the various historical, mythological, artistic, religious, archaeology, architectural, scientific or lifestyle/heritage of a community. The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation observed in 2002 that cultural and heritage tourists stay longer and spend more money than other kinds of tourists that visit a community thus, making such tourism an important economic development tool (Silberberg 1995).

Culture is what defines the character of a person or a group of people. That is why when someone has a good behaviour, people often say that this person is “well cultured”. It is said to be the highest expression of what it means to be human, and it somehow tells the kind of person someone is.

Cultural heritage tourism is a form of tourism development that not only exploits the cultural assets of a destination and projects its image worldwide, but also, under appropriate management, can lead to sustainable development. Indeed, visits to cultural and heritage destinations or visits to destinations for experiencing culture is an activity seen in humans since ancient times (Singh Sagar,2011).

Culture plays a dual role in tourism. On one hand it can be seen as ‘part of the mix’ of what makes a particular destination appealing to a prospective tourist. It can be referred to as playing a ‘destination enhancer’ function and this aspect of culture in tourism is the focus of a range of studies and strategies adopted largely by destination marketers, local government that relate to the value of place making. It has been proven globally that arts, culture and heritage are the key destination enhancers. Cultural tourist tends to be motivated by ‘learning something new’, hoping to enrich their lives through their traveling experiences (Walker, 2005).

In the case of the United Kingdom, the link between tourism and culture was originally made because of the importance of ‘national heritage’ for tourism and vice versa. Presently, countries are beginning to link creativity and tourism directly. For example, Singapore has in recent years been developing itself as a ‘Global city for the Arts ‘and tourism has been highly influential in supporting this ambition so much so that the Singapore Tourism Board has been given the responsibility for marketing the arts and promoting cultural tourism in the creative economy (Ooi, 2007).

In Africa, despite the continent’s huge cultural reservoir, the development of cultural and heritage tourism in still at its embryonic or primary stage, even though the level varies from one country to another. As Dieke (2000) contends, the variations in the theoretical tourism development continuum ranges from dominant (most developed) to the late entrants (least developed).

Within this spectrum of tourism development, countries such as Kenya, Mauritius Island, Seychelles, Morocco, Tunisia, South Africa and Senegal have a well-established tourism industry. In Kenya, the representation of the Maasai culture in the tourism industry has led to cultural and heritage tourism development within that community in such a way that world attention is now focused on the Massai way of life. The country now serves as point of attraction to international tourists in the African wilderness (Bachman, 1988).

Cameroon is blessed with different cultural and historic events, some of which are annual celebrations. The country is a microcosm of Africa and a cultural hotspot in the world as it is imbibed with over 250 ethnic groups (Yenshu, 2011). This cultural diversity is manifested by a rich and diverse folklore, arts, handicrafts, and way of life.

Over the past years, cultural tourism has become a source of attraction as the country has witnessed an increase in national and community tourism activities. This led to her appellation as a tourist destination in 2010, when500,000 tourists visited the country (Awa, 2010).

The crucial role of tourism in the country’s development is further captured in its development vision where tourism is expected to contribute about 13% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product by 2035, as presented in Cameroon vision 2035. For such vision to be met, tourist potentials in all forms need to be developed but unfortunately, this is not what is obtaining along the coastal settlements of the Limbe Municipality, more particularly in Botaland and Wovia villages in the Limbe II Sub-Division where the study is carried out.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Botaland and Wovia are the two main villages of the Wovia clan. They initially had a rich cultural heritage build on a platform of terrestrial and maritime construct but unfortunately, the community is gradually transforming into a hybrid of cultural mélange in recent times.

From the 1960s to the 80s, the culture of the Wovia clan spanned from rituals, traditional dress, traditional meals, annual festivals, heritage sites, palaces, language, folklore, and legend. Unfortunately, much of these have gradually effaced or faded with time, resulting to the problem of cultural erosion or heritage depletion in the two villages.

The latter is manifesting in various ways: firstly, the traditional annual festivals of the people which are displays of their traditional dances, wrestling-‘palapala’, canoe race competition (to show their strength and mastery of the sea), beauty contests and language competition  among others are not frequently organized. Recent festivals are no longer entertaining and effective like in the past and for the past two years they have not been organized.

Secondly, there are many fascinating natural sites in the two villages that have outstanding cultural significance to the people. These islands are considered to hold the deity of the people and the spirit of their ancestors, but they are seldom visited. As a result, most of these sites are depreciating due to lack of care. This poses a problem because in years to come, the future generation might not have the opportunity to ascertain the value of the sites and such intrinsic knowledge will perish.

Added to the above, the traditional dances and language of the Botaland and Wovia people such the ‘Mokpe’ language is gradually replaced with non-native languages or lingua franca like pidgin, English and local dialects from Nigeria due to persistent mélange with the fishermen from Nigeria who live and operate there. Dances like ‘Malé’ or Elephant dance, ‘Likombi’ dance and the ‘Mokpwe dance of the Bakweri people are rarely displayed/performed in recent times and are gradually getting extinct. These are progressively replaced with foreign ones. It is for this reason that this research is conducted to find out means of preserving these cultures against total extinct.

1.3 Research Questions

1. What are the heritage assets of Botaland and Wovia villages and what constitute their outstanding significant value?
2. How has cultural tourism contributed to heritage preservation in the community?
3. What are the problems affecting heritage tourism development in the area?
4. What measures could be put in place to foster heritage preservation and cultural tourism in the clan?

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