Current Edition >> Archive Section >> Special Features >> Janaury 2008
On 4 December 2007 a milestone event was reached in the drive by the Mangaung Local Municipality (MLM) to drastically reduce unaccounted for water losses (UFW) within its area of jurisdiction. That was when at the Botshabelo Stadium, the Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, Ms. Lindiwe Hendricks together with the Executive Mayor of MLM, Cllr. Gertrude Mothupi, officially launched the Water Conservation and Water Demand Management Programme (WC / WDM) for the Mangaung Municipal Area.
The Dept. of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) has earlier set aside R49 million to support eight Municipalities to implement WC/WDM with a four pillar approach, namely technical interventions, social interventions, economic interventions, and institutional/ legislative interventions. Mangaung is amongst the eight pilot municipalities, with an allocation of R 9.5 million.
As part of its business plan, MLM is basically refurbishing pressure reduce valves, refurbishing reservoirs and selected bulk pipe lines, auditing bulk consumer metering, engaging in education and awareness campaigns through local radio stations, newspapers, etc. and removing wasteful devices in indigent households. This is being done by local plumbers, local community liaison officers, contractors and their staff members and new recruited staff members through the pilot program.
In addition to the above, the Free State Regional Office of DWAF has allocated R5 million to five Municipalities to assist them in implementing WC/WDM measures at a small scale. This also entails job opportunities for local HDIs and SMMEs development for local plumbers, contractors, and community liaison officers.
Thus the launch cleared the way for accelerated and intensified implementation of the WC / WDM, ushering in the major phase of sustainable curbing of UFW in the Mangaung Area.
Perspective on water management in Mangaung Area
The past five years escalating UFW and strong population growth due to an influx into the urban areas after the amalgamation of the three transitional municipalities, required MLM to devise water demand management strategies as follows:
Network Losses Strategy
Strategy 1: Development of preventative maintenance strategy,
Strategy 2: Implementation of pressure management systems,
Strategy 3: Embarking on regular communication to capacitate communities
System Losses Strategy
Strategy 4: Continuous data analyses of account data
Strategy 5: Zoning of the MLM water network with zone meters
Strategy 6: Identify the erven with legal connections without meters
Strategy 7: Identify wrong meter reading or meter tampering
Behind-Watermeter Losses Strategy
Strategy 8: Educate community on how to perform first line inspections.
Strategy 9: Repair any leaks found on site and depending on the pro policy
Strategy 10: Focus on improving the quality of service delivered
Willingness to Pay Strategy
Strategy 11: Restrict supply for non payment and excessive use
Strategy 12: investigate technologies for controlling/ dispensing water consumption.
The MLM Water Leakage Awareness and Repairs Project kicked off in 2004/05 to curb soaring debt due to water wastages on private properties resulting in huge revenue losses to the municipality to the stage of challenging the sustainability of water services provision.
The availability of funds restricted implementation of the strategies to mere technical interventions, focusing only on retrofitting old leaking infrastructures on private properties and social interventions focusing on education and awareness around the inefficient use of water. To date a total of 19 900 erven have been attended to by 154 community plumbers trained under this project.
Having studied similar experiences elsewhere, MLM came to the conclusion that the next implementation phase of the WC / WDM project must not be limited to technical and social interventions, but should also incorporate economic and legislative and institutional interventions, in conjunction with DWAF.
Extent of the problem
It should be duly realized that the outstanding debt for water services in the Mangaung Area is seriously challenging sustainability in provision of water services and the cashflow of MLM. The detailed study conducted by MLM reflected the extremely high on-site water leakages in areas that had received water-borne sanitation.
There was also a problem of lack of willingness to pay, while after the introduction of FBW it became even more difficult to dispense only free basic water amounting to only 6kl/month.
Below are some indications of the gravity of the situation around outstanding water services debt.
These figures show that the outstanding debt in Bloemfontein, Bainsvlei, Bloemspruit and Heidedal is relatively small compared to that of suburbs in Old Mangaung, while Botshabelo also ranks highly.
For the initial introduction of the MLM counter-leakage strategy, Freedom Square was the most obvious choice due to the highest outstanding water debt and the high water consumption where more than 98% of stands have only one water-borne toilet and one standpipe. The on-site inspection revealed that most of the sites had leaking toilet cisterns with fresh water running constantly into the sewerage, thus increasing the baseflow and overloading the WWTP (Waste Water Treatment Plants) in the process. Fresh water is more expensive to clean than wastewater and this increases the costs of plant operation and consequently the increase in water and sanitation tariffs.
The pilot project started off in Freedom Square where 44 community plumbers were trained and then extended to Batho, Bochabela and Heidedal. The main components of the project are the following;
Repairs of all onsite water leaks within the project area identified by Directorate Infrastructural Services during the project period
Utilisation of local community members identified and trained as community plumbers to perform basic plumbing repairs and maintenance work
Educating of communities on first line maintenance of the water infrastructure falling under their responsibility
Implementation of appropriate community awareness and education methods in water conservation to ensure communities play an pro-active role in the management of water infrastructure
Project roll-out
The strategic goal of WC / WDM is to facilitate water loss reduction and inefficient use including wastages by implementing a long term rolling strategy with the following targets:
Water losses are controlled within the next five years (2007-2012) to achieve an overall system target of 15% UFW or a total water savings of 19 million m3/annum and maintained afterwards;
Water use efficiency is implemented targeting willingness to pay for water services and implementation of acceptable restriction technology.
Non-revenue water at 41% is regarded as not a good indication of overall utility performance and is thus unacceptable. Instead, implementation of a good long term WC/WDM strategy offers the only chance MLM has as a key to reduction of water losses, strategic asset management, sustainability of free basic water (FBW) and improved financial performance.
This is to be achieved through effective and sustainable water conservation and water demand management entailing the implementation of a mixture of appropriate activities within the following four WC/WDM Strategic Pillars:
Technical interventions (structural and operational methods)
Economic interventions
Social interventions
Legislative and institutional interventions
This roll-out was set in motion with the launch on 4 December 2007.
Scope of work
The following is the scope of work for the various relevant interventions:
Technical interventions
Retrofit on indigent private properties
Mains replacement and network 'repairs'
Refurbishment of infrastructure
Sectorisation/Zone metering
Pressure management
Active leakage control
Consumer metering and renewal programme
Illegal connections
System performance: targets and benchmarks; KPI's
Retrofit programme
Institutional & Legislative Policy and legal
Development of water services policy based on LM level of service
Credit control & debt control policy
Tariff policy (including indigent policy)
Enforcement approach
Customized bylaws that incorporate WC/WDM
Customer care management
Capacity as a WSA
Organizational arrangements
Technical information management system
Informative billing
Modified IWA (International Water Association) Water Balance
Social awareness
Introduction of the WC/WDM to the areas
Need analysis survey of the areas
Design awareness campaign programmes
Awareness and education campaigns
Post KAP survey and update awareness campaign material
Capacity building of municipal social staff
HIV/AIDS Impact on water use patterns
Economic
Incentives
Tariff structure
On 31 August 2007, Mthombeni and Associates JV was approved by the Bid Adjudication Committee to manage the WC / WdM 2007/08 phase of the project and execute the scope of work as outlined above.
Impact so far
The Water Leakage Awareness Campaign has achieved so far huge success in all three locations namely Thaba Nchu, Botshabelo and Bloemfontein. The awareness message was welcomed with open arms by the community. Most acknowledged that they don't pay for water services because they did not know that the rapid escalation of their accounts is always caused by leakages behind water meters. The awareness campaign proved to form an essential stepping stone to the success of the pilot project, showing that education and awareness contribute about 75% to its success.
The implementation of the project proved to assist in increasing willingness to pay, reduce behind meter water losses, improve service delivery and community resilience, break the spiral of increasing water services debt and poverty by creating employment for community plumbers who received the necessary training.
The implementation of the pilot project in Freedom Square achieved in the first 12 months reduction of non-revenue water and savings in excess of R3.4 million. It is expected that a further investment of R2 million would yield savings of more than R13.6 million in less than four years, coupled with the creation of permanent responsibilities for the ward committees, community plumbers, community members, etc.
The implementation of FBW assisted many consumers who could barely afford essentials other than water. The leakage reduction project assisted such consumers to stay within their 6 kiloliters.
The awareness campaign is currently focussed much sharper on the youth, especially grade 5 and 6's, because they spread the message to the elder generation.
The current geographical areas where the project is being implemented, are Rocklands and Phahameng, selected for the high outstanding debt for water services prevalent in these areas.
To sum up, savings in water and revenue are being achieved through the following strategies:
Leaks are repaired so losses are minimized
Most consumers stay within the 6 000 liters bracket
The growth in debt is negative
Collection for water services is being made for water consumed
Sewer blockages are noticeably reduced
The Water Leakage Awareness and Repairs Project has proven to be a vital part of the WC / WDM, the major part of which is now to be rolled out after the launch of 4 December 2007 and its strategy as set out above.
Pieces coming together for marketing of tourism industry in the Free State
Having done a huge amount of groundwork for marketing the tourism sector in the Free State to national and international target markets, the main pieces started to come together at a strategic workshop held by the Management and Board of the Free State Tourism Authority (FSTA) during the weekend of 19-20 January 2008. At the workshop, a detailed strategy was formulated for the execution of the mandate of the FSTA this year and beyond.
The strategy mapped out at the workshop for the operations of the FSTA, revolves around four main components, viz. a Strategic Master Plan, review of the internal system of the FSTA, branding the corporate identity of the FSTA and developing a dynamic and comprehensive website for the FSTA. On the practical level, these four components are to be utilized as generators to drive FSTA activities over the short and medium term.
Strategic Master Plan
At the FSTA workshop, 19-21 January 2008, finishing touches were put to a proposed Strategic Master Plan (SMP) for the FSTA. The proposed Plan was drafted last year and now discussed in detail at the workshop. A range of amendments was suggested and those are to be refined with a view to finalising the final version of the SMP and its official adoption at a FSTA Board meeting scheduled for 16 February 2008.
After this, the contents of the final document are to be communicated and explained to all stakeholders in the tourism sector in the Free State (mainly municipalities) and to the industry itself in the province (mainly tourism product owners). The intention is to make stakeholders and the industry acquainted with the SMP and to get them aboard for the implementation phase. This process is to take place this year.
Full implementation of the marketing component of the SMP is scheduled for 2009, according to increased budget demands.
Marketing and branding
Whilst full implementation of the proposed Strategic Master Plan is scheduled for 2009, considerable marketing is to be done this year at national and international tourism exhibitions, international bilateral tourism exchange / programmes, etc.
As far as branding is concerned, it is recommended in the proposed SMP that the corporate identity of the FSTA be branded strongly at local, national and international target markets. The process to comply with this is to be rolled out soon.
As to online marketing, the FSTA has appointed a service provider to develop for it an extensive and dynamic website, which should be able to handle online tourist bookings worldwide. The website is to be activated in the first half of this year.
Review of FSTA internal system
It was also decided at the workshop that the staff and management complement of the FSTA should verify for themselves internally as to their capacity and capability to market and execute the finalised document. It is regarded as imperative that the FSTA staff complement be ready and able to practically do this job as part of the fulfilment of the mandate of the FSTA.
Special attention is being paid to compliancy with auditing, procurement and other statutory prescriptions.o be emphasized that Defensor Security disposes of the best and latest security equipment needed in the performance of its various functions.
Developmental appraoch
In the draft Marketing Strategy for the FSTA the basic vision and mission of the FSTA is reiterated, namely to make the Free State the preferred inland tourist destination of choice in South Africa. In order to achieve this, the objectives are specifically to increase the numbers of visitors to the province and to lengthen the time of their stay in the province.
In so doing, more tourist spend could be achieved, which in turn would mean more revenue to product owners and business in general and which in turn again should translate into economic growth, more jobs and poverty alleviation – the ultimate aims for the tourism sector in the province.
With a view to achieving this, the FSTA is approaching the tourism sector in the province according to the following three layers:
Firstly, the primary layer, which consists of the natural attributes of the province, such as the scenic beauty of the Eastern Highlands, the significance of the Vredefort Dome, the offerings of the Gariep Dam, the Vaal Dam, etc. etc.
Secondly, the secondary layer, which consists of the basic manmade attributes of the province, such as museums, nature reserves, infrastructure, etc. – mainly established and managed by the government sector.
Thirdly, the tertiary sector, entailing the revenue-generating part of the tourism sector, namely the product owners such as accommodation providers (hotels, guesthouses, B & B's, etc.), restaurants and food suppliers, the tour operators, transport industry, entertainment sector, etc.
According to the approach of the FSTA, these three layers need to interact effectively between them, with government (national, provincial and municipal) to optimally enhance the secondary layer in order to complement maximally the primary layer, with the tersiary layer (the tourism industry) to produce development and consequently practical results down to grassroots level.
What is a prerequisite for the tertiary layer (the tourism industry) to perform optimally, is that the quality of service levels should be up to standard. It is critically important that service levels right through the tourism industry in the Free State be continuously and constantly upgraded and improved.
In the implementation of the Strategic Master Plan, it is the duty of the FSTA to attract increasing numbers of visitors to the Free State. In tandem with this, it is, on the one hand, up to the government sector to see that basic structures and infrastructure are being maintained and expanded, while, on the other hand, it is up to the tourism industry to capitalise maximally on increased tourist arrivals.
Each town/village a tourist destination
The FSTA decidedly holds the view that each city / town / village in the Free State has the potential to become a tourist destination in its own right. It is just a question of exploiting, packaging and marketing this potential. That is the responsibility and duty of the relevant local residents and entrepreneurs.
This is one of the issues the FSTA plans to discuss with municipalities and tourism product owners at workshops in the respective districts in the province during the course of this year. It is envisaged that this should culminate in a provincial tourism lekgotla later in the year.
It is imperative that within each locality unique and outstanding tourist attractions be identified and marketed. Such attractions need not necessarily be elaborate, but could be anything from interesting local customs to historical sites of all sorts, etc. Together with this, goes the ability and capacity of local tourism entrepreneurs to accommodate, host, treat and retain visitors.
To put up an example, the FSTA presents on the next page a focus on the Reitz-Lindley - Arlington - Petrus Steyn area, as falling under the jurisdiction of the Nketoane Local Municipality. Although this is regarded as an “ordinary” rural area, it is evident from a focus such as this that the Nketoane offers a host of exciting tourism prospects. Such potential is certainly true of many other areas as well.
CEO's Notepad
As can be seen from the content of this feature, an action-packed program awaits the tourism industry in the Free State this year.
The Free State Tourism Authority (FSTA) has indeed during the past 18 months laid a strong foundation from which to develop and market the tourism industry, which is henceforth to be done via the Strategic Master Plan to be officially adopted soon.
In this process, the name of the game is communication and we at FSTA plan to interact especially with the municipalities in the province on how tourism development and marketing could best be done in their local regions. At the same time it is also critical for us to build an effective working relationship with the numerous vibrant product owners in the Free State.
I wish to assure you all that not only will we be hosting workshops in your area, but do know that at all times our doors stand open for you.
Another point I would like to emphasize, is that “Local is lekker” – you must identify and brand your own local tourist strengths, whatever that might be! As an example, a glimpse of what is on offer in the Nketoane region is reflected in this feature. We intend to profile other areas as well in this monthly feature.
It needs also to be noted that the FSTA will during this year again represent the Free State at the Tourism Indaba 2008 in Durban, other tourism exhibitions in the country, as well as at the WTM in London, the WTB in Berlin, etc.
We have already forged strong links with tourism stakeholders in countries like Germany, Belgium and South America and this is expected to grow substantially to the benefit of all Free Staters. Watch this space for more detail!
We are on the move and you are invited to join the FSTA on the exhilarating ride tourism in the Free State is offering!
Till next month then!
Phomolo Mokuele
CEO
Free State Tourism Authority
Background
It forms part of the Riemland Region – derived from the Afrikaans term “rieme” meaning thong or strap and comes from the abundant hides and skins harvested in the 19th century from the great herds of game which have roamed this region.
The game in turn followed the excellent climate and natural environment prevailing in this region – good summer rainfalls, veld with very high nutritional value and moderate temperatures with not too cold winters and not too hot summers.
This in a nutshell sums up the Reitz-Lindley-Arlington-Petrus Steyn region, today forming part of the Nketoane Municipal Area.
The history of its human settlements and weals and woes is as absorbing as that of its wildlife history – a history that today, if exploited effectively, justifies a tourism destination in its own right.
In present times this region is foremost characterised and driven by its high commercial agricultural output – wheat, maize, sunflower, sheep, cattle, game, etc. – some of the best SA has to offer.
Scratching on the tourism surface of this region, one is astounded at the liveliness coming to the fore – lovely guesthouses and guest farms, game and hunting enterprises, the BielieMielie Festival at Reitz, a fully-fledged tourist information office at Lindley, a highly up to date website for Lindley, the availability and ability of local people to articulate the rich history of the region, the efforts of the Nketoane Local Municipality to promote tourism entrepreneurship amongst previously disadvantaged communities, new ideas for festival themes being explored and much more.
This feature as presented by the Free State Tourism Authority in conjunction with the Free State Business Bulletin provides a mere keyhole glimpse of the region – there is simply no substitute for visiting the region personally in order to obtain firsthand experience.
Reitz
Reitz is the principal town of the area and economically the strongest. It has a vibrant business sector, while Vrystaat Koöp is headquartered at the town. So is the Nkeotane Local Municipality. The town disposes of good schools and social and sporting amenities.
The annual BielieMielie Festival, to be held this year 13-16 February, is the foremost festival in the North Eastern Free State. First held in 1980, this year is seeing the 28th event. Last year the festival drew some 16 000 visitors.
For this year a full and exciting programme has been laid on, including braai competitions, lots of commercial and flea market exhibitions, food stalls, vleis merino championships, farm animals for children, flower arranging, fashion parades, variety of entertainment programmes, quad bikes, barn dances, etc. – for details visit www.bieliemielie.co.za or contact Hetty at 082 349 0222.
As for development of tourism opportunities for previously disadvantaged communities in the area, the director corporate services of the Nketoane Local Municipality, Mr. Desmond Radebe, on enquiry told the Free State Business Bulletin that the municipality is conducting special educational and empowerment projects.
He moreover pointed out the huge untapped tourism potential of the area and says that the municipality has a good working relationship with the local tourism industry. The municipality also maintains a toll free number for tourist enquiries – 0800 2044 59. Radebe can be contacted at (058) 863 2811.
Lindley
Proclaimed a town in 1878, Lindley is named after the missionary, Daniel Lindley, an American Presbyterian minister of the Voortrekkers in the 19th century. Historically notable was the Battle for Yeomanry Hills which took place during May 1900 between British and Free State forces. In this regard, oom Kota, a local tour guide, can give more information – tel. (056) 12, ask for Arlington 1721.
The farm Doornkloof of famous Voortrekker leader, Sarel Cilliers, is also in the district, forming today the national headquarters of the Voortrekkers youth movement.
Noteworthy is also the widely published memoirs of a woman Voortrekker pioneer, Anna Elisabeth Steenkamp, born in Franschoek, but who participated in the Groot Trek and later resided in the district.
Lindley is also the birthplace of Dr. Danie Craven, described as the father of South African rugby.
A small quaint town, Lindley offers surprising sights and amenities. The Lindley Booking Office & Tourism Info is a full time operated business - contact Joh-Mari van Heerden at 083 719 1110 or lloydgeorge@ananzi.co.za.
The surroundings are also renowned for bird watching and a total of 108 species have been spotted here. In the district are ample hunting, horse riding, hiking, quad biking, angling and other outdoor opportunities.
From 6-7 October 2007 the Free State Independent Film Festival was held at Lindley with the aim of encouraging film-making in rural areas and promote the local environs as prospecting film making locations. For more information contact Johan Colyn at 072 230 5080 or johan@lindley.co.za.
For 18-19 April 2008 the Riemland Kuierfees, a social country fair, is to be held at Lindley.
More info is available from an excellent website at www.lindley.co.za.
Arlington
As with the rest of the area, the village of Arlington is supported by a very strong agricultural district, especially cattle studs for the Simmintaler, Simbra and Angus breeds. Hunting and other outdoor activities for the visitor also abound.
In the vicinity are also Leghoya ruins (beehive huts from stone) as can be seen at Willem Pretorius Game Reserve. The rare girdle-tailed lizard, also known as patakali, is quite common in this area.
For more info on Arlington and surrounds, Llewellyn Angus can be contacted at 082 8055 101 or langus@webmail.co.za.
Petrus Steyn
Petrus Steyn, named after a leading local farmer of the time, was founded in 1912. It is situated near the large hill Elandskop, the scene of many a skirmish between Boer and Brit during the Anglo-Boer War.
Research has indicated that Petrus Steyn is the Free State town highest above sea level, at 1 702 meter above sea level. The Renoster River has its source near the town.
The Dirkie Uys Square with its Voortrekker monument is a tourist attraction. At the farms Benadiesbanke, Bloukrans and Rockview are particularly beautiful rock formations. About 18 km from Petrus Steyn on the Frankfort road is a small restorated NG missionary church known as the Kruispad-kerkie.
Dr. Stowell Kessler, who has researched the role of black people in the Anglo-Boer War, resided at Petrus Steyn and his widow, Marie Kessler-Steyn, still lives at the town.
For more info, Jan Mienie can be contacted at 082 852 6593 or janmienie@mweb.co.za.
With the Soccer World Cup the biggest sports event on the planet and with South Africa and Africa hosting it in 2010 for the first time in history, the event offers to the tourism industry, also in the Free State, an unprecedented opportunity to break into the global tourist market.
With a view to this event, the 2010 Accommodation Sign-Up campaign is currently being run nationwide by Match, the official FIFA body to arrange ticketing, accommodation and transport for spectators to the event in 2010 in SA. The campaign entails registration of accommodation suppliers with the provision that they also grade with the Tourism Grading Council of SA (TGCSA).
The benefits of signing up with Match are tremendous, comprising inter alia the following:
•Becoming an official accommodation provider for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
•Getting posted onto one of the world's most visited websites, FIFA.com, which in 2006 received more than 4.2 billion page views. It is the website which most football fans use as a starting point for their planned trip to the FIFA World Cup. Thus, as a one-stop shop for fans planning their trips, it is undoubtedly a global marketing tool.
•Being advertised in the 2010 Accommodation Brochure to be produced in 2009 for visiting fans.
•Receiving the right to market oneself locally and internationally as a contracted accommodation provider for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
There is really nothing to lose! For Free State accommodation suppliers – be it hotel or non-hotel, small or big – it offers the opportunity of a lifetime to get onto the world map.
The beauty of the opportunity is that all other tourism product owners in the province – restaurants, tour operators, transport suppliers, travel agencies, information offices, other relevant shops and providers – can cash in. While the key lies with accommodation establishments to sign up, the other suppliers in the tourism industry should be wide awake to seize opportunities coming within their grasp.
What other roleplayers say
When in Bloemfontein on 3 and 4 December 2007 in order to implement the 2010 Accommodation Sign-Up campaign for the Free State, the national coordinator of the campaign, Ms. Joy Statham and the representative of the TGCSA, Ms. Nivashnee Govender, explained the basics of the campaign.
Apart from the rush of international visitors to SA expected in the run-up to 2010, some 500 000 spectators are expected to attend the actual tournament in 2010. With a view to this, Match is aiming to sign-up at least 55 000 accommodation rooms nationwide, of which 45 000 are hotel rooms and 10 000 non-hotel, i.e. guesthouses, B&Bs, lodges and self-catering.
For Bloemfontein / Mangaung as one of the host cities, a minimum of 200 non-hotel rooms are to be signed up with Match. That is also the qualifying number of rooms to become a satellite area for 2010. Besides the host cities, any centre can become a satellite area.
What should be noted particularly, is that for Match it does not really matter where an accommodation establishment is situated vis-à-vis any match being played in SA – they will provide the tickets and transport to get there and back. For instance, fans may stay in Bloemfontein and Match will get them fast and cost-effective to matches in, say, Cape Town / Durban / or whatever and back to their accommodation.
For more information, the 2010 Accommodation Sign-Up website at www.tourismgrading.co.za could be visited, where the entire process is explained.
A key partner in this process, is the Tourism Enterprise Programme (TEP), providing financial back-up. The TEP representative based in Bloemfontein, Mr. Ben Cederström, says that TEP helps accommodation owners to complete the necessary documentation as well as providing financial assistance for previously un-graded establishments in terms of star grading fees. To qualify for assistance one needs to be registered with TEP. The following assistance is available to un-graded accommodation owners: Year 1 & 2: TEP will contribute up to 50% of fees / Year 3: TEP will contribute up to 25% of fees.
TEP does not offer loans, cover operational costs or do capital injection.
Cederström emphasises that FIFA 2010 in SA offers an excellent opportunity to accommodation suppliers on the informal side to cross over to the formal side and get star-graded according to what they offer. In this regard size does not necessarily determine quality – a small establishment can be of high quality.
Cederström also makes the point that all service providers in the tourism trade should be highly service-orientated. According to him, there is a tendency noticeable in Bloemfontein and the region of lowered standards, especially in restaurants. Service levels are dropping and this is not good. It should be reversed purposefully with a view to 2010 and the future in general. This is of the essence if the Free State is to be competitive in the international market.
For more info, visit www.tep.co.za.
Free State needs to think locally, act globally
The Free State Tourism Authority would like to express its appreciation to the accommodation suppliers in the province who have registered with the 2010 Sign-Up campaign. However, this must be seen as only the first step for many of them towards staking their claim in the global tourism market. There is also huge scope apart from and beyond 2010.
The bigger picture needs to be seen and that is that all tourism product owners in the province – big and small, existing and prospective – should mobilise towards the marketing and developmental opportunities currently beckoning on the short, medium and long term. To this end, partnerships need to be forged between, on the one hand, government on all three levels – local, provincial and national – and the private sector on the other hand. In this regard, especially municipalities play a critical role.
What needs to be done in particular, is that every town, every village and every community in the Free State should examine what they have that can attract visitors and then make noise about it, so to speak. Every possible local tourist attraction should be developed and then propagated. Historical sites, cultural features, festivals, exhibitions, tours of all kinds, scenic beauty, events, minor and major, etc. are some of the subjects coming to mind.
Even centenary celebrations of individuals can be turned into a tourist event. For instance, amongst the black population, funerals are important and are well-attended, even by relatives and friends from afar. These people need to be catered well for, inducing them to stay over at local accommodation establishments for two or three nights. In so doing, such an event could be turned into a local economic injection. These are more examples to illustrate the point.
This is also in accordance with the vision of the Free State Tourism Authority of making the Free State the preferred inland destination of choice in South Africa.
Tourism has excellent potential to create employment, promote economic development, bring about social upliftment and alleviate poverty.
This can be achieved if a tourism-wise Free State thinks locally and acts globally.
Calendar for tourism events
The Free State Tourism Authority plans to compile a calendar for tourism events in the province for 2008. This calendar can include any event that could in any way positively draw visitors to a local event or venue in the Free State, be it entertainment, sports, commercial, business, social, or whatever. The FSTA would like to assist in promoting and marketing these events.
Particulars about any tourist-related event in the province planned in 2008 could be emailed to emarket@emarket.co.za or faxed to (051) 430 7562.
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