ABSTRACT
Zululand is a remote rural region with a large population and high levels of poverty and unemployment. During the past ten years its economic base has been adversely affected by the decline of the coal mining industry. More recently, the economy of one of its main towns, Ulundi, which was the joint provincial capital, has been threatened by the loss of this status and the possible removal of a significant number of associated functions, jobs and spending power. Regional and local planning studies have identified heritage and ecotourism potential as an opportunity to diversify the local economy. Much of this tourist potential is vested in the town of Ulundi and in the adjacent eMakhosini valley.
