City turns its focus to tourism
By Samkelo Gqeba
30 September 2008
PEOPLE were encouraged to promote tourism - and welcome tourists into their homes - at a tourism day at Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane.
Hosted by the City’s tourism management unit, the day was themed “Welcoming tourists to our areas”. The stadium was a hive of activity on the day, Friday, 26 September.
To boost the event’s success, the City partnered with the Eastern Cape Tourism Board and the Amathole District Municipality in its bid to teach people about the importance of tourism and its place in the economy.
About 63 tourism enterprises, ranging from accommodation owners to crafters, exhibited their products at the event.
Speaking to the gathering, the portfolio head for local economic development and tourism, Mankomo Pango, said the City was celebrating the achievements of the tourism industry in helping the socio-economic development of citizens.
“We celebrate the heroes and heroines of our region who have left us a legacy of political and cultural pride – Steve Tshwete, Steve Biko, Mapetla Mohapi, the Mxenge couple, the victims of the Duncan Village massacre and the Mdantsane bus boycott; the list is long and the peoples of the world continue to stream to our region to visit the memorials and birthplaces of these martyrs.
“It is now up to us to preserve and make profitable use of these legacies and to ensure that future generations in our region will continue to benefit from these tourist destinations,” she added.
Talking about the City’s role in supporting tourism, Mankomo said it had developed programmes aimed at encouraging local people to start handicraft projects and hospitality establishments like bed and breakfast facilities.
“We have a comprehensive training programme in place that involves workshops and exposing our people to tourism indabas and formal training. In May this year we paid for the Inyathi Buffalo Route organisation to attend the Tourism Indaba in Durban, with the understanding that when they come back they would cascade their knowledge and information to other tourism operators in Buffalo City.”
Captain Leon Fortune from the South African Police Service, spoke about tourism safety, saying the safety of visitors to the city was a priority for his department. “We have developed a comprehensive tourism safety plan to curb crime against visitors, especially during festive seasons. At this time we increase our visibility around the city and in conjunction with our traffic counterparts we conduct routine roadblocks looking for drunken drivers and people caring illegal weapons.”
Fortune called on all residents to work closely with police in the fight against crime by participating in local community policing forums. “We can win the fight against crime if community members participate in their local community policing forums.”
After the formalities, it was time for entertainment, courtesy of local kwaito stars, panstula dancers and hip-hop artists.
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