Metro seeks partners to shine light on iconic Cape Recife

In an attempt to showcase one of Port Elizabeth’s iconic tourism spots – Cape Recife – the tourism department of the Nelson Mandela Bay metro has called on all relevant role players to partner with it.them.

The city hopesis hoping to shine the spotlight on the area, which offers a wide range of activities for families and all residents.

Economic development tourism and agriculture head Anele Qaba said any such partnerships would be aimed at would entail sharing information in efforts to improve tourism in information on the area.

This would also include identifying opportunities for new tourism experiences, adding to what the range of activities the area has to offer.

Speaking about on their plans to position the Cape Recife as a one-stop-shop and go-to place for groups, Qaba said creating tourism hubs was important as hubs allowed people to travel to one place and then, once there, enjoy a variety of activities available to them.

He said: “Tourism hubs provide tour groups and other interested groups with the option of conveniently travelling to one location and then offering various activity options for visitors,” he said.

Qaba said Tourism hubs also made booking activities easy. in the metro act as a one stop source of information and booking option for operators as well.

“This will make it easy to book and arrange an itinerary. inclusions for their guests. “Cape Recife is a good example of such a hub where families can spend a whole day out and enjoy the great variety of experiences on offer.

“Just five kilometres 5km from Summerstrand is the 366ha Cape Recife Nature Reserve, located near the Pine Lodge holiday resort off Marine Drive. which offers some of the best beaches and views the Bay has to offer.

“The reserve not only offers safe hiking trails, but is also home to Sanccob, a rehabilitation and education centre where those who visit can view and participate in the feeding of the African penguins.“Other activities on offer include:

• Interactive African drumming experiences;
•  Donkey cart rides to the lighthouse;
• Zip-lining;
• Guided nature walks;
• High rope experiences;
• Fat-bike beach tours;
• Adventure hikes; and
• A GPS amazing race experience.

“There are a host of opportunities for development on the reserve that need to be explored,” Qaba said.“We need to partner with interested stakeholders and other departments to further enhance the tourism experience that can be offered at Cape Recife.” Qaba said.

Alan Tours owner Alan Fogarty said game drives and tours to the historical lighthouse that was built in 1851 were targeted mostly at foreign tourists.

“Ninety percent 90% of our clients are foreign tourists because they find us to be more affordable,” Fogarty said.

“We don’t just offer a lighthouse tour, we offer a tour of what Cape Recife truly has to offer, especially since this is a very historical area.” he added.

Fogarty said there had been security issues at times as vagrants had inhabited the area, but that was a thing of the past as Pine Lodge’s Dennis Tucker had intervened with a private security company.

Since then the area had been much safer, Fogarty said.Fogarty added that Alan Tours had recently been awarded a certificate of excellence from TripAdvisor for the fifth consecutive time, he said.

This entered the company into the TripAdvisor Hall of Fame. Pine Lodge marketing manager Michele Grobler said entrance to the reserve was only by permit.

“Our permits are popular among fishermen but a lot of people go to the lighthouse because they often want to use it as a backdrop for their wedding pictures,” Grobler said.

She added that The 9km Roseate Trail was also popular for hikes.

Grobler said other people who visited the reserve were bird watchers, who could spot more than 60 bird species in the reserve. Sanccob Eastern Cape manager Stacey Leigh Webb said watching penguins at the centre was incredibly exciting and likened it to a soap opera.

“They are always getting up to mischief and doing funny things, especially during feeding times,” she said.

“Our discovery room is also exciting, visitors spend hours in there discovering the natural wonders of Algoa Bay and Cape Recife Nature Reserve,” Webb said.

Three of their most regularly seen patients are all endangered species, the African penguin, Cape gannet and Cape cormorant.

“Our visitors get a 20- minute to 30-minute tour around the centre and our discovery room.

“We tell them about Sanccob and what we do, as well as the plight of our sea birds. “After that they head outside to watch our penguins.

“They can watch the penguins being fed if they come at our feeding times, at 9am, 11am and 2.45pm,” she said.

•  This article is in partnership with Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism. For more information to go: www.nmbt.co.za