This Tourism Week: 17 November 2009

Considering The Choo Tjoe

The Outeniqua Choo Tjoe is back on track and is presently running between George and Mossel Bay on its quiet season schedule – three times a week, departing from the Outeniqua Transport Museum at 10:00 a.m., and from the Dias Museum Complex in Mossel Bay at 2:15 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays – and it’ll be running every day (except Sundays and Christmas Day) from mid-December to mid-January.

But its future is far from certain.

In case you’re not in the know, the Choo Tjoe is a steam train that’s become an icon in the Garden Route: it ran for many years between George and Knysna, but flooding damaged that line and it’s never been repaired. In an effort to save steam for the Southern Cape, the train was diverted to the Mossel Bay line, and Mossel Bay Tourism, recognising the uniqueness of the product, began marketing the service as ‘The Outeniqua Choo Tjoe’s Museum-to-Museum Tour.’

Transnet, which owns the line, has, however, given notice that it’s no longer interested in operating it because, it says, carrying passengers is not its ‘core business.’

As if parastatals had that choice. (But let’s not go there: in a country where the vast majority of the population is dirt poor, such a ‘business’ should have a moral obligation to provide cheap transport for all. And in a country with as proud a tradition of rail travel as ours, providing first class and luxury services to the tourism industry should be a no-brainer. Oh. But wait. No-brainers. We ARE talking about Transnet here…).

And so the service is up for sale (if you want to know more,  you can download Transnet’s call for expressions of interest here: Outeniqua Choo Tjoe: Transnet’s call for expressions of interest).

But last Saturday I happened to be in my new favourite coffee shop – Chaplin’s in Knysna (it’s in Woodmill Lane, and it’s open every day from breakfast onwards, with dinner service Wednesdays to Saturdays – and it’ll cater for tour groups: telephone +27(0)44 382 3667) – when I struck up a conversation with a steam train enthusiast of note: friend Alan McVitty.

And Alan, as friends do, urged me to think more deeply about the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe than I think I have ever done before (and I’ve been associated with the train for a very long time, having arrived on it to live in Knysna all those years ago).

“I’ve been trying,” he said, “to define for myself what it is that makes train travel to special, and I’m clutching at it but I can’t quite grasp it.”

I sense that when he answers himself, he’ll have the answers to the future of steam in the Southern Cape – so let’s help him if we can.

Firstly he made the point that the steam engine represents the expanding of empire, and the roll-out (pun intended) of industrial-era technology to the world. “The steam train is a symbol of many of the things that went wrong as a result of the industrial revolution,” he said, “and our young people need it as a reminder of what we shouldn’t be doing in the future.

“The belching smoke is an almost visible illustration of the things that cause global warming, and the whole idea of the conquering of continents is a warning against the dangers of globalisation.

“But nevertheless, there is something unique about the silence of a railway station, and the anticipation of the journey, and then the sudden noise and rush when the train does arrive.

“And there’s something about the space inside the carriages, and the pace at which you move once you get going that fosters discussion with your fellow passengers – something that you don’t get in the cramped confines of an aircraft, where you often spend six or eight hours next to a stranger without ever speaking to him.”

Like me, Alan would like to see the Southern Cape – which boasts the country’s last publicly owned steam maintenance yards (at Voorbaai in Mossel Bay – you pass through them on the Museum to Museum tour, and it’s an eerie and nostalgic few moments, let me tell you) become Steam Train Central, with services between the various towns becoming different tourism products to attract steam enthusiasts (and believe me, there are millions of them).  The mothballed luxury train The Union Limited stands forlorn in the Voorbaai Yards, and opportunities exist for various trips between, say, George and the game farms of Uniondale. And imagine what it would be like to be able to stay in Mossel Bay and take a train ride to Oudtshoorn when the KKNK (the Klein Karoo Arts Festival) is on the go: imagine what that would do to relieve the pressure on the roads at that time of year, and what it would do for people who don’t want to drink and drive.

And so I could go on. Any half-awake tourism professional can see the potential for steam in the Southern Cape, which has all the toys – the museums, the maintenance yards, the lines – that any grown up boys need for creating a set of major tourist attractions.

So why can’t Transnet see it?

Whenever I think of steam trains, I can’t help thinking of the Puffing Billy, which runs over a piddling 24 km-long course near Melbourne, but which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors (the figure I read was 250,000 a year. A year!). You can ride on the train, you can volunteer to work on it, you can rent it for special occasions, and it’s operated with a degree of flexibility and professionalism to which we can only aspire.

But most of all, it’s a success. And I see no reason why the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe – and steam in general – shouldn’t be just as successful in the Southern Cape.

So what is it that makes train travel so special? And should we as an industry be sitting back and allowing Transnet to systematically kill train travel in South Africa? Let us know what you think by posting your comments below.

Here’s MEC Alan Winde’s speech  at the re-opening of the George-Mossel Bay Line after this year’s closure for maintenance:

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Benefits Of A Liquor Licence For Businesses In The Hospitality Industry

Liquor licensing might not be a priority for many businesses in the hospitality industry – but those businesses may be acting illegally when it comes selling liquor. This isn’t out of wilful negligence – it’s more likely to be a result of ignorance of the complex legislation that governs the issue.

It’s important to remember that the term “sale of liquor” includes exchanging or keeping, offering, displaying, delivering, supplying or disposing of liquor for sale – or authorising, directing or allowing the sale of liquor.

… And if you’re selling liquor, here are four scenarios you want to avoid:

1. 2010 and beyond: Visitors to the 2010 World Cup will be more insistent on compliancy than most businesses might expect. Guests want to relax knowing that your premises are safe and comfortable. So – increase their levels of enjoyment by serving them the drink they’re after. Don’t be forced to send them away for a drink: they may never come back!

2. Accidents: They happen all the time, and at the most inconvenient of times. And after an accident the authorities – the South African Police, the Fire Department, the Health Inspector – may visit your premises and find that liquor was involved. If you don’t have a liquor licence, you’ll have some uneasy questions to answer. Negative publicity will probably follow, and you – and perhaps even your clients – may be prosecuted.

3. Competitors: Your jealous competitor may report you to the local liquor officer (DPO) – and that DPO must inspect your premises because the law requires him or her to act on every report of illegal behaviour. And if you don’t have a liquor licence, action will have to be taken against you – with unhappy consequences.

4. The SAP undertakes routine investigations – and it’s not worth being the victim of a surprise visit by the DPO!

Consult Liquorwise – Nationwide Liquor Licensing Specialists With All The Answers To Your Liquor Licence Questions  – and look out for future articles on the subject in the next three editions of This Tourism Week.

Now – go away on holiday. It’s in the economy’s best interests… and have a GREAT tourism week!