Boost for township tourism
On entering New Brighton from Uitenhage Road, people first see sickness, incarceration and then judgment, which does not inspire much confidence in the township’s economy.
This is according to New Brighton Tourism Forum chair Pat Kondile.
He was speaking at the launch of the community tourism forums which have been endorsed by Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Athol Trollip.
Municipal economic development, tourism and agriculture executive director Anele Qaba said the forums would develop tourism in the townships and help residents take ownership of their products.
“We wanted to ensure whatever tourism products are created, there’s proper consultation with communities.”
Four forums have already been set up, including Uitenhage, Walmer and Motherwell.
In his speech on Tuesday, Kondile said one of the challenges was that people were spending their money in suburbs, unaware what products were offered in the townships.
“We want to keep the rand in the township. Our rand in the township needs to work for us,” he said.
After entering New Brighton from Uitenhage Road, first there is the Empilweni TB Hospital, then a police station and finally the magistrate’s court.
“We’d like to move the TB Hospital because that is prime land and hopefully build a New Brighton Hotel because a hotel is not just a hotel, it encompasses a lot of things.”
Kondile said the forum would like to see the reopening of the Red Location Museum, which has been closed since 2013 due to protests over shoddily built RDP houses.
He said he hoped to develop a tourism council to stay abreast of tourism trends and raise funds when needed to attend seminars and workshops.
Trollip said it was important for township tourism to improve, ensuring tourists had a good experience that they could recommend. He warned against one-off experiences and called for sustainable products.
“Tourism is about a sustained product that you market, that people have a great time and talk about, which becomes something iconic.”
In terms of unique cultural experiences, there was no other place in the world named after Nelson Mandela, which was something they needed to use.
“We don’t have mines in this city.
“Our mine is our environment, our beachfront, our weather, our people and tourism,” Trollip said.
“We must mine it to the very best of our ability otherwise we won’t be able to deal with the most seminal challenges of our society, which are poverty and unemployment.”
Qaba said the forums were not funded by the municipality but would partner up for proposed events and products.
“Funding will be based on business plans and products.”
Qaba said the forums did not report to the municipality as they were independent.
Each forum has about 15 members.
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