South Africa’s government considers tourism to be one of its main economic development strategies. In 2002, South Africa was rated the fastest-growing tourism destination worldwide, with a 12% increase in the third quarter of 2002 alone. In 2003, a 4,2% increase in overseas visits was recorded, against a global drop of 1,2%. From a mere 640 000 arrivals in 1994, by 2003 this figure exploded to 6.5-million.
It is estimated that, by 2010, the South African tourism industry will employ no less than 1.2-million people, either directly or indirectly. For every eight new tourists, one permanent job is created. But it would be wrong to gauge South Africa’s tourism market only against numbers of international tourists; in 2002, 67% of the total South African tourism market comprised domestic tourists. Some 15-million South Africans undertook 34-million domestic trips, boosting the economy by nearly R10-billion (at an exchange rate of R7/US$1).
What has fuelled such a tourism boom? Generally, tourism brochures define the country’s attractions as ‘coastal beauty, wildlife, climate, good infrastructure, cultural heritage, a wide range of sports, an amazing story of political and racial liberation and reconciliation, and representing reasonable value for money”.
In recent years, much emphasis has been placed on the growing number of World Heritage Sites located in South Africa. To date, UNESCO has approved six sites: Robben Island off Cape Town in the Western Cape, the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park and the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park in KwaZulu-Natal, the Cradle of Humankind in Gauteng, the Mapungubwe Iron Age archaeological site in the far northwest of Limpopo Province, and the Cape Floral Region, a collective of eight special mountainous terrains in the Western Cape.
These sites include three of cultural-historical significance (Cradle of Humankind, Mapungubwe and Robben Island), whereas the other three are primarily natural heritage sites, where scenery, protection of rare wetlands, and a combination of scenic mountain ranges and unique flora are celebrated and protected. World Heritage Sites are often selected because they have more than one attraction — clearly, the St Lucia area also contains a rich cultural heritage, as does the Drakensberg region, with, in particular, many fragile sites of San heritage.
Tourism SA, which has the prime mandate to market this country as a tourism destination to the world, extensively uses these sites, together with a handful of others (let us not forget Table Mountain, the Richtersveld, the Mpumalanga escarpment area, among others). Emphasis is also given to other assets, such as game reserves, sports and safari adventures, a range of cuisines, the winelands, scenery in general, ethnic and cultural assets, as well as the country’s recent history and achievements. Much of this is marketed under the banner of ecotourism.
Much is also made of sustainable ecotourism. How can we define this term? Perhaps as tourism that focuses, and capitalises, on the environment, for attracting tourists while at the same time protecting the environment. There is nothing wrong with this concept — in many parts of the world, this is the only form of environmental protection.
But, in the eyes of the marketers and the public, what resources is ecotourism based on? Browsing through numerous relevant publications, the answer is disconcertingly simple: South Africa’s natural heritage resources are perceived to be wildlife and game parks, along with a handful of conservation areas. In 2002 a glossy coffee-table book appeared, entitled South Africa’s Natural Heritage. The reader soon finds out that the sole topic is wildlife.
Welcome to our geological wonderland
Yet, our natural heritage assets are based on and, to a large degree, dependent on the country’s underlying geology. And what a geology this is! No less than 3.5-billion years of Earth’s history can be observed within our borders. The resulting landforms provide such a plethora of interesting topography (including beaches, deserts, river gorges, mountain ranges, steppes, wetlands, with only glaciers and active volcanoes missing) that hardly any other country of comparable size can boast so many diverse features.
In addition, nowhere else in the world can one find such a fantastic record of life’s development as at the palaeontological sites of the Karoo and many archaeological finds distributed throughout the country.
All this is already combined with a well-developed tourism infrastructure. One must therefore ask why tourism marketeers don’t sell the whole package.
In a recent discussion with top tourism officials, I was asked what, for example, an American tourist would prefer to see: an elephant or a mountain? My answer: put the elephant on the mountain, then two American tourists will come to see them!
Geotourism already exists, but on a small scale. Some of the millions of annual visitors to Table Mountain may pick up a small brochure that details the geological history of this monumental feature of Cape Town. Visitors to Pilgrims Rest in Mpumalanga may enjoy learning about its recent gold-mining history, but do they return home knowing anything about the immensely old geological history of the region? Many people already visit the mountains around Barberton, but how many realise they are standing on 3 500-million-year-old volcanic rocks that were formed beneath an ancient ocean, and which contain fossils of the world’s earliest known forms of life?
One of the little-known wonders of the world is the Vredefort Dome. This 50km2 area 120km southwest of Johannesburg straddling the borders of the Free State, Northwest and Gauteng provinces is close to the economic heartland of South Africa. But how many South Africans have ever heard of the Vredefort Dome? How many know that it is the deep core of the world’s largest and oldest meteorite strike? This gigantic impact crater in fact extends all the way from Welkom in the Free State to Johannesburg!
Few people know that the Vredefort Dome exposes 3 200-million years of geology, and allows us to glimpse the marvelous workings of the Earth down into the deep interior of the ancient Kaapvaal continent. In addition, the area houses unique archaeological heritage, as well as historical sites related to the 19th century gold rush at the Venterskroon goldfield and the South African Anglo-Boer War.
No wonder that in 2002 a proposal was made to UNESCO that parts of the Vredefort Dome be given World Heritage status. Can South African tourism officials afford to go on ignoring this natural wonder? Besides being a drawcard for thousands of potential tourists, it could be used to benefit the unemployed in this economically depressed area. Geotourism could help to alleviate poverty in this and other rural parts of South Africa.
Numerous similar sites have the same potential: two further examples are the Tswaing meteorite crater near Pretoria (one of the best preserved and most accessible meteorite craters in the world) and the fossil-rich Makapans Valley in Limpopo Province. But other mountain ranges, cave formations, fossil sites, meteorite impact sites and coastal formations, together with their associated cultural and socio-political legacy, could add a fascinating new dimension to the development of tourism throughout South Africa.
These points apply equally to neighbouring countries. What else is the Victoria Falls — or, for that matter, our own Augrabies Falls — but showcases for geology past and present? Or the Fish River Canyon in Namibia? None of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries have begun to recognise the potential value of their geological heritage, or that it is the very foundation upon which their cultural and historical heritage is based.
Geoparks — a strategy for the future?
The African continent has yet to recognise the increasingly strong trend towards educational tourism, which should take its rightful place beside traditional safari and adventure tourism. By contrast, elsewhere, such as in Europe and China, this is far advanced, with the declaration and promotion of geoparks, both national and cross-border, as tourist destinations.
Geoparks have sprouted all over Europe. Examples are the cross-border volcanic region of the Eifel mountains, the industrial zone along the Ruhr region, and parts of the island of Sardinia. Geopark status is avidly sought by European communities, as it is seen as a sure way to attract tourists.
The geopark concept could be of great benefit to Southern Africa. As an example, the semi-desert plain of the Great Karoo of central South Africa is not a region that tourists normally choose to visit, unless they incidentally travel by land from Johannesburg to Cape Town. Yet the scenic geological formations of the Karoo Supergroup, which were laid down between 180-million to 300-million years ago, contain many palaeontological sites of note. This stratigraphic interval also spans the greatest single mass extinction of life, which took place at the Permian/Triassic boundary 250 million years ago, when more than 90% of all lifeforms then existing on Earth were suddenly wiped out, an event not yet fully understood.
Further south lie the dramatic Cape Fold Mountains of the Little Karoo. To the north, the arid Richtersveld in Northern Cape Province could form a cross-border geopark with southern Namibia, to encompass the existing Richtersveld National Park, the Fish River Canyon and the Ai-Ais hot springs, and could also be extended eastwards along the Gariep river to include the Augrabies National Park.
Of a somewhat different nature could be the creation of a geopark for the Witwatersrand, along which is found numerous fascinating mining-related or purely geological sites, from the Blaauwbank gold mine in the northeast to the Vredefort Dome in the southwest. It could even include the Cradle of Humankind. But the City of Gold has a long way to go, judging by the neglect of the George Harrison Park in Langlaagte, which is where gold was first discovered, and which has long had National Monument status. It has been badly vandalised and allowed to fall into disrepair.
Ripe for development
In a nutshell, our beautiful country has other natural resources which have not as yet been fully exploited, whether for education, recreation or tourism. The unique strength of South Africa’s tourism potential lies in combining our diverse culture and rich history with all aspects of our natural environment.
Although a number of small tourism operators have begun to offer geotours, and the fledgling Conservation and Geotourism Committee of the Geological Society tries to draw national attention to this neglected asset, it is obvious that a coordinated approach is needed. For one, to increase awareness among stakeholders and to train tour guides appropriately will require some investment.
Geotourism may have a further intangible but vital benefit beyond attracting more foreign visitors: South Africans themselves could learn about a history that spans nearly three- quarters of the age of the Earth, and begin to understand what an immense resource our portion of the planet represents. They could find out more about their own country and, therefore, more about themselves. And it is hoped that that this knowledge will inspire them to take more responsibility for the conservation of South Africa’s natural heritage, for the benefit of our children — and the next generations of tourists.