The impact of tourism on the conservation of the cultural heritage in the Kenyan coast

Abstract

This study was on the impact of tourism on the conservation of the cultural heritage in the Kenyan coast. It examined the social, economic and physical impacts of tourism on the immovable and movable cultural heritage in the coastal part of the country. It captures the benefits, damages and challenges of tourism to heritage conservation, using illustrations from four coastal sites: Fort Jesus, Gede, Jumba la Mtwana and Kaya Kinondo. It is based on the premise that tourism significantly affects people, their cultural heritage and the environment. The study had three objectives: to explore the direct and indirect socio-cultural impacts of tourism; assess the physical damage occasioned by tourism on Kenya's sites and monuments; and evaluate the economic effects of tourism on Kenya's heritage. It was conducted at the Kenya Coast between May and September 2007 and was guided by Mathieson and Wall's analytical framework. Data were obtained from documentary sources, key informant interviews, direct observation and photography. They were analysed using both qualitative and quantitative approaches and the information presented in plates, verbatim quotes, and tables of frequencies and percentages. The study established that tourism indeed supports cultural heritage conservation, although it also has destructive effects which need to be dealt with in order to safeguard the heritage for posterity. Tourism's influence on out-of-school education and the safeguarding of the world's cultural and natural treasures are vital windows through which anthropologists can appreciate leisure, human behaviour and cultural dynamics as well as the material implications shaping human behaviour in the contemporary world. The conservation and use of the historically and artistically valuable heritage are crucial aspects in the quest for societal development in the face of global influence and challenges. The study recommends that apart from educating the public on respectful use of the heritage, and creating a tourism-supported national heritage conservation fund, closer collaboration of the site managers with the community members be enforced to check visitor threats.