Embracing Tourism and Hospitality through Xitsonga Proverbial Expressions

Abstract

Proverbial expressions have for years been transferred from one generation to the other for different purposes including rebuking actions that are not acceptable in society, encouraging good behaviour and giving guidance. This article addresses how Xitsonga proverbial expressions can promote tourism and hospitality in the sector. The article discusses the role that Xitsonga proverbial expressions can play in the tourism sector in encouraging people to tour, good hospitality to tourists, persistent visits to tourist destinations, and conducts of tourists and hosts, and advising business owners on choosing strategic areas to attract tourists. The corpus method of data collection has been applied by extracting relevant proverbial expressions from a collection of Xitsonga proverbial expressions titled Vutlhari bya Vatsonga-Machangana: The Wisdom of the Tsonga-Shangana People (Junod 1973). Under the broad umbrella of Afrocentric epistemology in education, this article postulates how proverbial expressions can be used to develop curriculum content that speaks to African norms and values. In the end, the view is that wisdom which is carried in African proverbial expressions can be used in an in-depth analysis. It can offer solutions to different cultural and social problems that the continent faces including, amongst others, decolonisation of African education and economic and environmental obstacles that Africa is confronted with.