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Tourism is a gift that keeps on giving
More needs to be done to encourage investment in the sector and to educate our people about the importance of tourism.
In the middle of Kruger National Park, South Africa’s most celebrated game reserve, a luxury train takes passengers but never moves. At the Kruger Shalati – known as the Train on the Bridge – guests gaze over the animals kingdom, from the golden sunrise until the Milky Way spills across the nighttime sky. (Photo by Michele Spatari / AFP)
When it comes to caring for a goose which lays golden eggs, one needs to ensure that it is comfortable, well fed, and protected from danger.
And, if you get the right goose minder, that’s a big step.
Essentially, we have a flock of golden geese in our fantastic tourist attractions. And, rather than liquidating them to assuage short-term hunger – be that for land or for money – we should look after them.
Tourism is a renewable resource, not like mining, which is extractive and finite.
The sector can provide jobs for hundreds of thousands of people and bring in billions in foreign exchange from foreign visitors.
While some of our national tourist attractions in government hands are still doing reasonably well – Kruger National Park, for example – others may be in danger of slipping into the long, slow decline which characterises much of our public sector.
What we need is public-private partnerships where hard-nosed and experienced businesspeople work with civil servants to ensure not only that our tourist attractions and wild spaces are maintained, but that they are financially viable and sustainable.
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One such is William Stephens, whose De Hoop Collection enterprise in the Western Cape is working closely with government to provide a globally recognised tourist experience in one of the most unspoilt coastal parts of our country.
Earlier, Stephens and others helped establish world-class tourism operations in the government-owned Madikwe National Park.
Operations like these depend on the buy-in of surrounding communities, who need to see the tourism value of a natural asset.
De Hoop and its partners, for example, contribute more than R500 million annually to the Bredasdorp area.
But more needs to be done – to encourage investment in the sector and to educate our people about the importance of tourism. It can be the gift which keeps giving.
