SA tourism gets shot in the arm

The struggling South African tourism sector has been given a boost after the country was included on the influential New York Times annual list of “52 Places for a Changed World” – which tourists are encouraged to visit.

According to the NYT, South Africa has “endangered wildlife, an underwater forest, and a struggling Unesco site” which also supports jobs and education.

The annual list is aimed at demonstrating that “travel can also be part of the solution, and not only on climate.

“Travel supports depleted economies in places that depend on tourists’ dollars, and opens the eyes of travellers to cultures and customs different from their own. That thought is the animating spirit behind this year’s list.”

The paper said that in the past, the list often focused on “things like a newly hot restaurant scene, an exciting new museum, or the opening of a fabulous beachfront resort.

“This list, instead, highlights places where change is actually happening – where endangered wild lands are being preserved, threatened species are being protected, historical wrongs are being acknowledged, fragile communities are being bolstered – and where travellers can be part of the change.

“Our message is not to hop on the next plane but to use this list as inspiration for your own more purposeful, more fulfilling travel in the coming year and beyond.”

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NYT writer Charly Wilder said the impact of travel restrictions had left SA’s “outstanding wildlife reserves and conservation projects badly in need of support”.

Wilder focused on the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, a 320,000-hectare Unesco world heritage site in KwaZulu-Natal.

“Home to elephants, leopards, lions, rhinos and whales, iSimangaliso also supports more than 12,000 jobs and an environmental education programme involving 150 schools.”

South Africa offered the “classic Big Five” safari experience at some of the country’s approximately 500 private game reserves, like Kariega and Manyeleti.

Tourists who want a memorable experience could volunteer to monitor biodiversity with the Endangered Wildlife Trust at Medike Nature Reserve in the Soutpansberg, or “help save the dazzling aquatic life and octopus teachers that inhabit the Great African Seaforest, the planet’s only forest of giant bamboo kelp”.

– news@citizen.co.za

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