Tourism Plan

Joe Gqabi District Municipality has adopted its District tourism plan in October 2009. The tourism sector within the District is comparatively underdeveloped in relation to other Districts within the Eastern Cape. According to statistics provided by the Eastern Cape Tourism Board (2007 Statistics), there are 153 of which 30%, 60, 1 % and 9 % are 2, 3, 6 star and un- graded respectively. They fall in three distinct categories, self-catering, bed and breakfasts and lodges/hotels. There are few

formalized tourism products (apart from accommodation) in the area. There are few skilled people participating within the tourism sector due to lacking training facilities providing tourism related skills.

Most visitors (52%) come from the Eastern Cape and Gauteng (23%). Joe Gqabi is sometimes used as an overnight stay between Gating and the Eastern Cape coast. This kind of accommodation tends to be easily accessible. The towns benefiting from this include Aliwal North, Venterstad and Steynsburg.

The market for ecotourism and adventure tourism tends to be fairly affluent. People tend to stay several nights. The Elundini and Senqu areas tend to benefit from this. In Aliwal North (but also in some limited other venues) there is a government sector market for people attending meetings and conferences. This tends to be during the week. There are two main route developments in the District namely: the Maluti and the Friendly N6 Tourism Routes. There is a smaller Lake Gariep Dam Route around the Gariep Dam. It is done in conjunction with the Free State and Northern Cape. The Friendly N6 stretches from Bloemfontein in the Free State through the Joe Gqabi District to East London. The Maluti Route is a cross border effort in conjunction with Free State and Lesotho.

The most active tourism node is that of mountain tourism. Tiffindell ski resort forms a key node within this sector though the resort has had its own challenges recently. There are linkages to the Rhodes, Barkly East, Maclear, Ugie and Lady Grey areas. This node tends to be seasonably active. There is strong winter adventure tourism as well as Christmas and Easter activities.

The Aliwal North tourism node tends to focus on a different market: government officials and travellers. The Gariep Dam area is a developing tourism area and is strongly linked to conservation initiatives and establishment in the area as well as the Gariep Dam.

There are limited tourism opportunities within the Sterkspruit and Mount Fletcher areas. However the Sterkspruit CTO is operational and accommodation is provided for government officials and short stay visitors. There is no tourism accommodation in Mount Fletcher. It is expected that the Holo Hlahatsi dam in the Sterkspruit part of Senqu may provide some limited tourism attraction.

Major tourist attractions for Joe Gqabi range from the scenic beauty of the District, Tiffendell the only mountain ski resort in SA, Aliwal hot SPA, to areas renowned for hunting, fishing, hiking, mountain biking and other adventure tourism activities. Tourism has been identified a growth sector within Local Economic Development , and has the potential to increase economic opportunities, be a source of employment to many and lower poverty levels within the District. Thus, tourism is of vital importance to the District and has enormous potential for job creation with direct benefits to local communities, as well as economic benefits for the region as a whole.

Joe Gqabi has developed a tourism plan, which focuses on product development, marketing, infrastructure development, human resource development, enabling environment, the tourism marketing and development. The tourisms strategy identifies the tourism products and the financial and human resources for the each financial year. The District tourism programmes budget is R38, 877,500 covering the next five financial years. R34 233, 000 out of R38 877,500 is the capital budget and the rest is the operational budget.

Tourism has been identified as growth sector in the LED and thus has the potential to increase economic opportunities, be a source of employment to many and lower poverty levels within the District. Thus, tourism is of vital importance to the District and has enormous potential for job creation with direct benefits to local communities, as well as economic benefits for the region as a whole. The tourism objectives are amongst others the following:

♦ The establishment of tourism routes and tours, with a clustering of tourism products that explore the diverse natural and cultural heritage within the District

♦ Development of Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, Exhibitions and events tourism in the District

♦ Development of iconic products in the District to attract more tourists

♦ Develop the arts and crafts sector in the District

♦ Further develop and market cultural/heritage/historical attractions in the District

♦ Development of tourism service providers.

♦ Encouragement of budget tourism in the District

♦ Promote and assist the development of the Freedom Trail and the Freedom Challenge

♦ Promote adventure, nature based and sports tourism in the District.

♦ Development and promotion of rail tourism

The following programmes will be implemented:

♦ Assist in tourism development along the Maluti Route.

♦ Facilitate the development of scenic and mountain pass routes in the District. The Joe Gqabi District has a number of scenic and mountain pass routes within its boundaries.

♦ Facilitate the development of a heritage tour within the District.

♦ The Joe Gqabi District has a diverse cultural heritage and the development of a heritage tour that encompasses all these unique cultures and histories could include the following:

♦ Anglo Boer war heritage, Freedom fighter history, San culture and heritage, Xhosa culture and heritage, Paleontology etc.

♦ Incorporate township tours into the tourism sector.

♦ Facilitate the development of historical, cultural and architectural walking tours within main towns within the District.

♦ Facilitate the establishment of yearly events, especially in low season months, and assist in the promotion of existing events in the District

♦ Facilitate the development of exhibition venues in the District.

♦ District to promote sports tourism products and sports events.

♦ Facilitate the development of more conference facilities in the District.

♦ Renewed development of the Aliwal North Spa.

♦ To develop mountain/alpine tourism in the District

♦ To facilitate the development of Lake Gariep as a key tourist destination in the District (Gariep Complex Project). Lake Gariep is the largest fresh water lake in South Africa and has significant potential for further

♦ Facilitate the development of craft hubs in the District. Additional programmes are contained in the tourism plan.