The Nelson Mandela Museum Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr Vuyani Booi, suggested that there should be a Tourism Indaba hosted this year, with the aim of creating solutions to keep tourism growing.
Booi said this at a Stakeholder Breakfast Session and Nelson Mandela Footprints Hiking Trail hosted in partnership with Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency (ECPTA) at Nelson Mandela Youth and Heritage Centre in Qunu in Mthatha, last week.
In this session, local journalists from different media houses around Mthatha were awarded Certificates of Appreciation by the management of Nelson Mandela Museum.
“On the issue of the tourists that are robbed, we are working together with the police officers and members of the municipality in order to ensure that our tourists are safe all the time. We know that tourists who are coming from Mthatha are always robbed, most of the time. Sometimes this happens when they are inside their buses; they are robbed of their cash and some are beaten, and their cars are hijacked,” said Booi.
He added that some are found tied to trees; this shows that tourists who come to Mthatha from South Africa, internationally and from other provinces, are not safe.
According to Booi, that is why, as stakeholders led by Nelson Mandela Museum, these issues need to be discussed.
Booi added that the museum is a National Liberation Museum, so they have a big responsibility to ensure that South African people, more especially in Mthatha, are protected, including visitors.
“When we go back to hiking trails, especially those places that have something to do with the trail of the late Nelson Mandela, we try by all means to boost tourism that is dead in this region.
“It has been destroyed by crime and also that people cannot afford the tour operators and accommodation in bed and breakfasts.
“When we do this hiking trail we try to say to people from South Africa and Mthatha, that when they have time with their families they must do the hiking trail, which is something that brings peace to their families and communities.”
He added that this brings business to people who own businesses, and also brings knowledge on how communities are living.
The Senior Manager for Tourism Development in the Eastern Cape Tourism Parks Agency, Fezeka Mlungu, said they have a Tourists Guide Association in this province, where they sit down with them, look at what they are doing and their needs, and where possibly they can provide support.
She said that it is not only about ECPTA, but they also bring other institutions to provide support.
According to Mlungu, support ranges from supporting by transport, training, and taking them to other trade shows, like consumer shows both nationally and internationally, so they can promote and sell their products.
“We have established a Provincial Tourism Safety Forum, and it comprises both public and the private sectors. One of the key things that we are focusing on is the tourism safety issue. We have identified Mthatha and Wild Coast as some of the crime hot spot areas.
“We have programmes that we are doing, where we are supporting SAPS; we know that they have got limited resources, but we are bringing in other tools. For example, we have a Secular App that we have as the tourism fraternity where we are using it to encourage tourism and tourists operators,” said Mlungu.
She added that they can use it to report crime.
According to her, when muggings or any criminal event have happened to them, they also have a tourism support programme where the ECPTA organise things like counselling, or opening of the case and following up with the police.
