Tourism & Leisure
Tourism in the Northern Cape is poised to expand.
The Northern Cape is a nature-lover’s paradise. It has 12 game reserves and parks, of which six are national parks, a stunning variety of landscapes and endless potential for adventure tourism, hunting, and observing stars, rock paintings and flowers. Diamond fields, diverse cultures, battlefields and the Orange River are some of the province’s other major assets. Although the tourism offering is already well developed and there has been considerable investment in infrastructure in recent years, the potential for the Northern Cape to capture more of the domestic and international tourism market is immense.
According to the 15-year review of the Northern Cape published in March 2009 by the provincial government, tourist numbers into the province have shown a steady rise over the last five years, with the biggest percentage increase occurring in the third quarter of 2006, namely 4.1%. Bed nights sold decreased in more recent times due to the global recession, but the overall picture for tourism in the Northern Cape looks good.
More than 1.2 million bed nights were sold in 2006, and the sector’s direct contribution to provincial gross domestic product (PGDP) was calculated at 6% in that year (nearly R2-billion).
Uruguay’s national soccer team selected Kimberley in the Northern Cape, as their base for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ tournament and will no doubt tell good stories about their experience.
The nation’s 50 Days to Kickoff celebrations were hosted by Kimberley in April 2010, providing another opportunity to highlight the region’s attractions. The province’s two major airports have been upgraded, and five nature reserves spruced up. Infrastructure has been improved and the province has a coherent and exciting strategy in place to boost tourism numbers by improving the quality of its offering and by increasing the types of experiences that a visitor can expect. The Northern Cape is preparing itself for its tourism sector to take off.
During 2009, the national Tourism Month celebrations were held in the Northern Cape, which focused attention on the province’s branding as the ultimate extreme sports destination. The richest skateboarding competition in the world will come to the province in 2011, the Maloof Money Cup Skateboarding Championship.
The Northern Cape Provincial Government’s Growth and Development Strategy targets tourism as one of the key sectors with the capacity to ‘grow, transform and diversify the provincial economy’.
Economic growth through tourism
A very successful film festival held in the Karoo town of Victoria West is a striking example of how event tourism can positively affect the economy of a small town. Income from the box office and the restaurant shot up from R17 000 in 2001, the first year of the festival, to R87 000 in 2003. Unfortunately the festival was not held in 2009 as funders could not be found.
Nearby Richmond is marketing itself as a book town – and very successfully too. With the advantage of being on the N1 highway, the main connection between the Cape and the north, Richmond has become a haven for book lovers, bookbinders and book collectors.
The 2007 decision by Unesco to register the Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape as a World Heritage Site (South Africa’s eighth) has great significance for the tourism industry in the Northern Cape, and for the prospects for ecotourism in general. This 160 000-hectare landscape of mountainous desert is managed by the semi-nomadic pastoral Nama people. That the indigenous people of the area will benefit from any tourism to the area is an outcome that is to be celebrated. There are several camping sites within this harsh but beautiful landscape and self-catering chalets can be found at Sendelingsdrift. Booking is done through Sanparks.
In the strategically placed town of Douglas there is an opportunity for investors to get involved in the upgrading of a holiday resort through a private-public partnership. Situated on the Vaal River, the potential to transform a municipal resort into an excellent conference and event venue is great. The anticipated capital requirement is in the order of R69-million.
An ambitious project to turn an old farmhouse into a guesthouse to cater for overnight visitors to the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) in Sutherland has taken off due to funding support from the National Development Agency. Local women have taken the initiative in the hope that their project will transform their lives and provide employment for others in the community.
Tourism regions and routes
The province has sensibly been divided into five tourism regions, coinciding with the boundaries of the district municipalities that govern those areas. In the north are the Green Kalahari and Kalahari regions; to the south and east are Namakwa and Karoo, while greater Kimberley is appropriately called Diamond Fields.
The Diamond Fields region contains the spectacular Big Hole, the Mokala National Park and many Anglo-Boer War battle sites. Several major battles took place very close to Kimberley, which was itself besieged in the war. The Anglo-Boer War Route is a well-developed tourist attraction. The town of Kimberley is itself an attraction, with fine examples of Victorian architecture. The Vaalharts Valley is ideally suited to the development of agri-tourism, with its lush and well-irrigated fields and canals.
The Karoo region encompasses the south-eastern portion of the province. While most of the region is dry, the Vanderkloof Dam is a major tourism asset. Many of the region’s small towns are geared to cater to tourists drawn to the magic of the Karoo’s open spaces. Rock art is found in several locations.
The Namakwa region is famous for its flowers but it also hosts the South African Astronomical Observatory, several historic mission settlements, the Namaqua National Park (on the West Coast) and the awe-inspiring /Ai /Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park. Springbok and Calvinia are the two major towns in this huge district, which is also the only Northern Cape region with a coastline.
The north-western portion of the province is known as the Green Kalahari, much of which is taken up by national parks. The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (with Botswana) encompasses 3.7 million hectares, making it one of the biggest conservation areas in the world. The Red Dune Route is a network of guesthouses, reserves and farms to guide the visitor to the great park, offering country hospitality and hearty food along the way. The site of Malcolm Campbell’s unsuccessful attempt to break the world landspeed record can be visited at Verneukpan, a suitably wide open expanse of land. More recently, Andy Green chose Hakskeenpan in the Kalahari as the site for his attempt at the record which will happen in 2011.
The Orange River provides the lush landscape in which the grapes of the 749 producers of Orange River Wine Cellars prosper. The rushing waters of the Augrabies Falls National Park is another popular destination.
The Kalahari in the northeast is home to much of the province’s mining, but also to great numbers of raptors, vultures and owls. A specialist raptor route has been developed. Tours of the area’s vast open-cast mining operations can be arranged. Hunting is a lucrative subsection of the tourism sector that is doing well in this region. The Roaring Kalahari Route guides tourists to out-of-the-way towns to experience real life, and bring economic development to rural areas, at the same time giving a real sense of the size of the wilderness area.
The Northern Cape has its fair share of annual festivals. Some of them have gained good reputations, such as the film festival held in the small town of Victoria West and the Vleisfees (meat festival), which has been held in Calvinia, in the heart of the Hantam region, since 1990; vast quantities of lamb and mutton compete for the attention of festival-goers with a vintage car rally and a Miss Vleisfees competition. Richmond has a festival called Boek Bedonnerd – a phrase that is not easily translatable! Kimberley’s Gariep Arts Festival is gaining a reputation as the venue for outstanding performances and events. Upington’s Kalahari Kuier (Visit) Festival has outgrown its focus on the raisin, and has become an all-encompassing and includes a popular race, the Kumba Iron Ore Classic. More than 30 000 people attended the 2009 event, providing a welcome boost for the local economy.
Awards
The Emerging Tourism Entrepreneur Awards are a showcase of new talent in the tourism industry and the Northern Cape has been well represented in recent years. In 2009, Northern Cape winner Meshack Nkadimang, owner of the Hotel Kgalagadi in Kuruman, went on to win the first award in a new national category, the South African Tourism Ambassador’s Award. Cultural tourism and the idea of engaging with local inhabitants in a sincere way has been a theme among winners of the Emerging Tourism Entrepreneur Awards. The event is backed by South African Tourism with financial support from South African Breweries. The names of the finalists for the 2010 national award were announced on Tourism Day in September 2009 in the Northern Cape.
The Northern Cape Tourism Authority has played a major role in promoting the tourism potential in the province. The organization was honoured regularly for ‘best stand’ at various local and international expos and it picked up the silver medal at South Africa’s annual Tourism Indaba in 2008. It has also won the SA Web Award for its website.
Mokala National Park, South Africa’s newest national park situated about 80km south-west of Kimberley, won a prestigious Welcome Award at the national Tourism Indaba in 2008. The park is run by South African National Parks and has both white and black rhino, together with tsessebe and wildebeest, on plains covered by the ecologically important camel thorn tree.
Festivals
March: Kakamas Sultana Festival
April: Diamonds and Dorings, Kimberley
May: Upington Agricultural Show
August: Hantam Vleisfees, Calvinia
September: Gariep Arts Festival (Kimberley), Kalahari Kuier
Fees (Upington), Cultural Festival (Okiep)
October: Boek Bedonnerd Festival, Richmond
December: Namakwa Festival, Springbok
