Comment On The Tourism Sector’s BEE Codes
I’m not happy. I titled last week’s This Tourism Week article “BEE, Tourism, Racism – What’s The Deal?” (remember? I said “Hello, my name is Martin and I’m a racist … which is the very reason I totally get the concepts of black economic empowerment (BEE) and affirmative action.”). And I thought that I’d get huge feedback on it – not because I outed myself, but because I spoke about the need for the industry to comment on the gazetted Tourism Sector Codes (you can download them here) – and because I said they were difficult to understand and quoted the editor of Travel Hub who said that the “Tourism code is unworkable.”
The Codes are going to affect us all – so we need to see that they’re built properly.
But I’m unhappy because I received only four comments about my article – so either I’m a crappy writer, or you don’t read what I write: or you don’t care.
One person said “speak for yourself, Martin” (which is exactly what I do do – I never call anyone names, do I?) and two people asked me where they should send their comments (remember that? I said I didn’t know).
The fourth comment came from TECSA’s Public Sector Liaison Director, S’fiso Mthembu (TECSA is the Tourism Empowerment Council of South Africa) – who wrote “People can send their comments to bee-tourism@thedti.gov.za or drop them off at BEE Unit, the dti Campus, 77 Meintjies Street, Sunnyside, Pta, 0001.”
So there you have it. Now – download the Codes and get writing.
- whl.travel Comes to the Garden Route and Klein Karoo
Backroad Safaris has become the local MPO (market place operator) for the whl.travel site in the Garden Route and parts of the Klein Karoo. Regular readers of This Tourism Week will remember that I wrote with enthusiasm about whl.travel’s innovative business model in my e-mail of 29 May (A Site That’s Challenging ‘Colonial Tourism’ And Opening Africa’s Access To The On-Line Market) – so it’s exciting that it’s coming to my part of the world.
If you’re offering any kind of tour or accommodation in the Garden Route or Klein Karoo, you’ll want to have a presence on whl.travel. The Garden Route site is still under construction, so I can’t give you the direct link – but go to whl.travel’s Africa pages to see what it’s all about: and remember that the great thing about this site is that it’s not restricted to the big players – emerging businesses, home-stays, SMMEs, guest houses, attractions and hospitality groups alike can benefit from the company’s world-wide reach.
Contact Jauckie Viljoen on 083 262 2307 trados@mweb.co.za for more information about the Garden Route and Klein Karoo region’s site.
- A Resource for the Media – And the Tourism Industry
Looking for material of interest to the tourism industry? You’ll find a bunch of media releases in This Tourism Week’s Media Room. Like this one on the appointment of whl.travel’s 100th MPO (market place operator) – or this one about B&B Sure’s innovative Seal of Insurance for guest houses and B&Bs.
- What’s Martin Reading?
The Great Karoo By Leon Nell
I’m a fan of Leon Nell’s work. I’m also totally jealous that I didn’t think of writing this book – imagine the fun he and his wife-and-travelling-partner must have had doing all that research. Visiting all those wonderful dorps and farms, sampling the Karoo like very few people have ever done. Jealous, jealous, jealous! Ha ha!
Mr Nell divides the Great Karoo into eleven distinct regions – and just reading their names (the Moordenaars Karoo, The Hantam Karoo, the Camdeboo) is enough to make me want to climb on a bicycle, saddle my horse or get out my wagon and start exploring. But as I can’t (even writers have to work), this book is a fine substitute – one that allows me to travel in my head.
And that’s just the point about it – it’s not something you’re likely to take along if you’re travelling light. It’s kind of a fireside chat that you’ll want to dip into rather than read from cover to cover: something between a story teller and a coffee-table book (but much more useful than the latter). It’ll enjoy a place of honour next to my copy of Mr. Nell’s “The Garden Route and Little Karoo: Between the desert to the deep blue sea.”
Definitely a book for every guest house library – and it would make a great gift, too.
Getaway Guide to Karoo Namaqualand & Kalahari By Brent Naude-Moseley and Steve Moseley
This is the essential in-your-cubby-hole guide which I’ll definitely be carrying with me when next I visit the Karoo. It’s filled with information about where to stay, what to eat and what to do – and it includes many of the stories and anecdotes that make any place more interesting (I’ll look differently at the Prieska High School if ever I have the privilege of visiting there: reading this book taught me that it’s the only high school in the country that “produces funds from an olive orchard planted in its grounds for that very purpose.” Actually, EVERY school should grow something edible, don’t you think?).
This is a book for tourists – but it’s also one that I’d recommend you add to your guest house library because it’ll pique the traveller’s interest and make him or her want to visit the country’s heartland – as it has mine. I’ve never been to the Kalahari or Namaqualand. Now I HAVE to see how I can organise a visit there come spring.
My First Book of Southern African Mammals by Peter Apps with illustrations by Jennifer Schaum
At last! A guide book for children that actually makes sense – and one that should appeal to the great majority of South Africans – because it’s written in English, Afrikaans, Zulu and Xhosa. Each of the 58 species listed has a page of its own with a brief description of its habits and food; there’s a full colour painting of the animal and a black-and-white cartoon note showing the animal’s size relative to a man’s, its diurnal or nocturnal habits, its food sources and its spoor.
I’m going to be giving a copy of this book to Natie, my grandson. We’ll love it together, I know – and both of us’ll learn something from it. And you should have a copy in your library for any tots (say 3 – 7 years old) who visit – because, of course, your establishment IS child-friendly, is it not?
… and have a GREAT Tourism Week!
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