TOURISM CONSTRAINTS OF UMLAZI TOWNSHIP RESIDENTS ...

By the seventeenth century travel was becoming accepted as part ofa gentleman'seducation. Young men who were preparing for their various careers wereencouraged to go to places on what Lickorish and Jenkins (1997) call an earlyversion ofthe Grand Tour.According to Butler and Hinch (1996) the origins of tlle Grand Tour itself werebased on the necessity for well educated English men and women to learn fromother cultures. This gives an indication that, since the beginning ofwhat could betermed tourism, there has always been a realization that tourism has an educativevalue in people's lives.This confirms the idea that tourism profoundly affectsindividuals and families who engage in it by inducing behavioural changes in tlIem.These effects oftourism are enlightening and educational.For tlIe growing child, tourism can bring about an environmental educationalexperience. The environment can be a city street, a mountain, a village, a beach, astretch ofcountry road, a forest or any other type ofenvironment one can think of.Any of these can be used to give reality, relevance and practical experience forlearning.Increased awareness of aspects of tlIe environment can be expected toresult from direct contact with the environment.This is particularly true for children as they are openly curious.They want to makesense ofthings and the world at large; and desire to gain competence and controlover themselves and the environment The children are open, receptive andperceptive. They do not shut themselves offthe strange, confused and complicatedworld tlIey experience. Children observe the world closely and sharply and try totake it all in (Segien, 1985). Children want meaning in any new situation andenvironment. Tourism is an effective way for creating situations in which tlIis20'.