East London, 8 November 1999
Welcome
Thank you for inviting me to this important strategic planning session for tourism in the Eastern Cape.
I welcome meeting such as these for a number of reasons.
Not only do they give us a chance to establish a clear strategic framework for the development of tourism in this region, but it also gives us the opportunity to build the team to make it happen.
For tourism to succeed in any area we need to take a long hard look at the region, and work out what its competitive advantages are and what is holding back development in the area.
We need to be realistic: we need to work with what we have and minimise what is holding us back.
In the highly specialised and competitive domestic and international tourism markets it is not enough to just offer beaches. We have to look at our products and how they fit in the increasing specialised and niche markets of world tourism.
This is where the Eastern Cape starts to look very attractive. In the markets of eco-tourism, adventure tourism, wildlife and cultural tourism you have tremendous untapped potential.
ADDO ELEPHANT PARK
My Department and the South Africa National Parks is working on an exciting proposal, which if it succeeds, will put Addo Elephant Park on the African wildlife map right next to Kruger National Park.
The potential of the Addo area has yet to be fully grasped.
It is one of the most biodiverse areas in the country as it contains six of the seven biomins (the vegetation, fauna and flora types) in this country. From the dunes on the coast to the Karoo scrub, the grasslands and the rain forests, Addo encompasses this diversity and the different forms of life that it gives rise to.
We are planning to increase the Addo Park from the current 16,000 hectares to 400,000, which will include the marine element for the first time in a national park that is home to some of the Big 5.
This will allow Addo to boast of being home to the Big 6 when the whales are in season off the Eastern Cape coast or even the Big 7 if we want to tangle with the Great White Shark that lives in your seas.
Addo is currently home to the Big 4 and has the biggest African elephant population in this country outside Kruger. About 100,000 tourists visit annually largely due to its link with the Garden Route.
Think how many more people will visit when lions can be introduced after the land is consolidated. It will immediately give Addo the cachet of the Big Five. Addo also has unique properties: It has the potential to carry the highest density of black rhinos in this country. This gives you an idea of what potential lies at your doorstep.
It is an ambitious project, but if we succeed we will have put down a major anchor project for tourism in the Eastern Cape.
Addo has tremendous advantages. It’s a short distance from major airports so access is relatively easy. It can easily be linked to the Garden Route and the Wild Coast … so can offer a package holiday while opening up new areas and products for development. It has a temperate climate and is malaria free.
The land at Addo is currently being used for small stock goat and mohair farming, which has a much lower yield than eco-tourism. So this is a project that will create jobs and open possibilities to the people of the Eastern Cape.
But we have a lot of work ahead. We need to raise the money to buy the land; we need to redevelop the area bringing parts back to its natural state while building the necessary camps and facilities.
This is an exciting project where national and provincial government can work together in partnership to unblock the impediments to development.
On the other side of the equation - what are the impediments to progress? I think it is generally accepted that the lack of a strong infrastructure of roads is holding the Eastern Cape back.
I was hearted, as the Minister of Tourism with a keen interest in the Wild Coast SDI, to hear that the Department of Transport through its National Roads Agency has received an Unsolicited Proposal for a road between East London and Durban in support of the Wild Coast SDI.
This proposal includes:
The proposed road, which will be some 540 km in length, will be another project in partnership with the private sector who will be responsible for financing the road. Once the agreement has been concluded construction work could commence within 30 to 36 months.
This is welcomed news as this road will provide the main arterial access that can start to open up the Wild Coast for development.
There are many problems holding back the development of the Wild Coast – from problems of access to questions of land ownership.
These are problems that we need to tackle one at a time if we are to succeed. But what is needed is the political will to make it happen. We need the commitment of all to the economic and social development of this area.
Thank you.
Didi Moyle
Special Adviser to the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
Telephone: 27 21 465 7240/1 or 27 12 3110 3611
Fax: 27 21 465 3216 or 27 12 322 0082
082 808 5108
moyle@mweb.co.za