Locals urged to travel more
Parks CEO says special prices for domestic tourists make it possible
Eastern Cape residents can still get to enjoy what’s on offer in their province and the country without having to break the bank.
These were the words of Eastern Cape parks and tourism agency CEO Vuyani Dayimani, who says there has been a dip in the number of local tourists.
“Our domestic numbers have taken a dip but we would like to encourage people to not be intimidated to travel and think they need to have lots of money.
“There needs to be a culture of travelling among our people. Sometimes all it takes is paying R50 for your family to visit a nearby park.
“Once people get used to that, then they can move on to the next town, then the next province and before you know it you have travelled the entire country,” he said.
In a bid to make this easier, Dayimani said parks had different payment rates for domestic tourists, pupils and pensioners.
“This is our way of promoting our spaces for locals to enjoy, not only for international tourists.
“We are trying to encourage exposure to our parks,” he said.
Dayimani said first prize was to create awareness about what the province had to offer.
“We want people to have bucket lists about places and activities in the Eastern Cape they want to see. By increasing the number of tourists there is also a certainty about jobs that get retained.
“Furthermore, we must add that there is a value chain, tourism is not only for tourism students but there are other elements like transport, hospitality and ICT,” he said.
Dayimani also condemned criminal attacks on tourists.
This follows last week’s incident where an Australian couple were conned out of R96,000 by men posing as tourism officials.
The tourists were flagged down and forced to go to an ATM to withdraw money.
“First of all, we must acknowledge that ordinary people are affected by crime every day. We condemn all crime because it creates the perception that there are areas that cannot be visited and that is not the case.
“There is no place for criminal activities in our communities,” he said.
Earlier this week, home affairs minister Malusi Gigaba announced that there would be a relaxation of visa regulations that would be implemented in the near future, making travelling to and from SA a lot easier for business and leisure travellers.
Welcoming the move, Dayimani said it would help boost the number of tourists visiting the province and South Africa.