The red-flagging of travel to South Africa by the British Government led to the cancellation of over 60 tour buses to Dundee earlier this year – impacting severely on the local tourism industry.
“The death of a botanist and his wife near Vryheid, allegedly by terrorists linked to ISIS, led to the warning. Ironically, the murdered couple were not living in the UK but were residents in Cape Town although they carried British passports. Nevertheless, the travel warning was a blow to the local tourism industry,” said Naresh Gopie, Tourism Dundee chairman.
He was addressing the AGM of the Tourism Committee last Thursday evening held at Talana Museum with the theme ‘Night at the Museum’.
Evan Jones, 80, who has now started Heritage Mentorships, received a gift in recognition of his contribution to the tourism industry. Peter Jones, widower of Decima Jones who for over 25 years ran the Tourism Office, received a portrait photograph of Decima from Naresh Gopie, Tourism Dundee chairman.
While the warning may have since been lifted, the fact that travel companies won’t honour insurance agreements should anything befall their clients while in South Africa following the red-flag, was enough to do damage to the tourism industry.
“The majority of our international visitors to the battlefields are from the UK so, yes, the damage was great,” remarked committee member, Pam McFadden, Talana Museum curator.
She added that when the Dundee Tourism Association started in the early 1990s – as the Dundee Publicity Association – it was calculated that tourism brought in about R900 000 to the local economy. “While accurate statistics are more difficult to get now as accommodation establishments are sometimes reluctant to pass these on, we can reliably estimate that the sector contributes about R60-million, directly and indirectly, a year to the town’s economy.”
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It was also pointed out that while the Tourism Office reacts to complaints when these are received by visitors, ‘the office is not there to police establishments’.
Mr Gopie said an effort had been made to contact members to obtain these statistics but to no avail.
“It is not that we want to put our noses in anyone’s business. We just need the raw facts and by using a formula laid by the tourism industry, we can calculate a Rand value to these stats. These strengthen our hand when applying for funding from the municipality or the private sector for specific tourism-driven projects.”
It was also pointed out that while the Tourism Office reacts to complaints when these are received by visitors, ‘the office is not there to police establishments’.
