South Africa Tourism - Essay Example

No: South Africa Tourism Introduction An old man “Father’s friend” said and I quoted “Africa is the heart of the world”. This quote has lot of meanings that anyone can define. Therefore, it means Africa is love, peace, power, and life. South Africa is one of the most famous countries in Africa and is one of the biggest civilizations, which settled long time ago. Nelson Mandela is considered to be the most famous person of Africa due to his struggle for the rights of black African. Unfortunately, Nelson Mandela died few months ago but he will live in the hearts of many people for a long time.Cape Town is famous for its beach life. Variety of available beaches include, family oriented beaches, activity beaches and trendy hangouts. Redoubtable wine magazine declared Vergelegen wine state as the best wine state of South Africa. Thus, South Africa is a dream tourist destination. Thesis Statement South Africa offers the visitor a spectacular variety natural beauty that incorporatesdeserts and lush forests, great mountains, splendid plains and rare landscapes. However, South Africa’s is continuously endeavoring to promote tourism industry and it has been able to deliver in this regard. South Africa South Africa is bounded by Atlantic Ocean in the west and by Indian Ocean in the east. Almost three sides of the continent are surrounded by the coastline. Various countries join their border with South Africa. Countries sharing borders are Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Swaziland and Kingdom of Lesotho (Ferreira & Harmse 81). Cape Agulhas lies in the south of Africa at the distance of about 100 Miles southeast of the Cape of Good Hope. South Africa was first settled by the people locally called “San”. Khoikhoi and Bantu speaking people followed San in this regard.European first settlement in “Cape of Good Hope” dates back to 1652 (South African Tourism 57). The Dutch East India Company was the pioneer European settler on Cape of Good Hope. They established permanent colony comprising of 15000 settlers. The number rose to above 15000 by the end of 18th century. The other settlers or area came in 1795 and tried to make independent republic. These were known as Boers of Afrikaners (Binns & Nel 236). In 1815, Britain was able to control the cape colony and brought 5000 settlers at the end of Napoleonic Wars. That was the era when African blacks were being released from slavery and they were moving back to Africa. This was known as “Great Trek” when Africans were settling North and East into African tribal territory. They also explored the areas of Orange Free State and Transvaal (South African Tourism 61). The year of 1867 is of great importance as gold and discovery of diamond attracted the outlanders to invade land. Outlanders came to republics and tried to convince Prime Minister Cecil Rhodes for invasion. Rhodes executed a plan but failed and Rhodes was forced to resign from his office. This war was named as inevitable war, which started on 11 Oct 1899 .Boers was defeated in the war which resulted in creation of Union of South Africa. Union was composed of four provinces including former provinces as well. Cape and Natal colonies were also part of Union. Botha had the honor of becoming first Prime Minister.African National Congress came into existence in 1912 which marked the beginning of organized political activity in the country (“South Africa”). Tourism is spreading at a faster pace than any other industry in South Africa. Someone truly described it as “World in one country”. This is true because all the beauty of nature can be found at that soil. Beautiful beaches, sandy deserts and lush green mountains are core of African natural beauty. Millions of people visit South Africa every year to see the fascinating beauty of nature. South African tourism industry has taken many measures to facilitate the visitors. Many people visit this unique part of the world and get fascinated from golden beaches, amazing hoteling, and transport and accommodation facilities (“Tourism”). Estimated rise in tourism is three times of the world tourism when compared with rest of the world. Thus, tourism became one of the most rapidly developing sectorin South Africa. South Africa earns huge foreign exchange through tourism industry. Gold is other locally produced key productin the exports of South Africa. Tourism helped many people to earn well and life quality life in South Africa (Rogerson & Visser 59). Almost 6 Million people visited South Africa in the first nine months of year 2010. These figures saw rise of approximately 18 percent when compared with the visitors of 2009 for the same duration. Another reason for attracting huge number of visitors was FIFA world cup. South Africa hosted the FIFA world cup in year 2010. This has also been the reason of attracting people in following years of world cup. People visited South Africa in 2010 was 3.6 percent more than the people visited the same country in 2009. Statistics for the period of 2003 to 2009 show amazing rise in visitors attracted by the classic natural beauty of South Africa. About 63 Million people were recorded who visited the country from 2003 to 2009. Accordingly annual income of the country increased with every additional visitor. There was increase of about 7 percent in the income and 5.7 percent increase in African land market visitors at the end of year 2009 (Media Club South Africa). Besides the world cup 2010, there are other reasons contributed in attracting the tourists from all over the world. South Africa liberalized airspace, which is considered as a major reason in attracting tourists from different regions (Media Club South Africa). After liberalization of airspace, many international airlines started operating flights from various countries to South Africa. Government of South Africa liberalized airspace in 2006 (Rogerson & Visser 73). Government took these steps for augmenting competition in aviation industry and at the same time improving affordability of air travel. South Africa increased number of domestic flights in the country. Flights between Johannesburg, Cape Town were almost doubled. Flights were also increased with Europe and Middle East. Foreign carriers from US and China also started operation between two countries. Now South Africa is targeting the business tourist despite of their less number. They only make up 5 percent of foreign visitors visiting South Africa every year. Such tourists spend more money than a normal foreign visitor does. Such visitors normally spend three times more than a normal visitor as they enjoy more luxury during visit (Media Club South Africa). South Africa is continuously enhancing its GDP with the help of tourism since 2006. Tourism resulted in rise of GDP from R137 Billion to R 159 Billion for the duration of 2006 and 2007. Number of tourists who stayed in South Africa in first seven months of 2008 was almost 5.5 Million foreigners. Thus, the increase was almost 8 percent when compared with the same period during 2007. There are many factors contributing to this rise. Policies, tourism projection, incentives and leisure offered are the key elements in this progress (Binns & Nel 238). Tourism created huge number of jobs for locals in South Africa. Jobs produced by tourism in South Africa witnessed a rise of 5 percent in 2007 when compared with 2006. South Africa’s traditional tourist market remained strong in first half of 2008. These markets showed growth rate when new markets also contributed in the growth rate. Rise of 11 percent was reported by North America in first seven months of 2007. Statistics regarding European countries showed an increase of 7 percent with France recording rise of 16.8 percent. Tourist arrival from Australia showed a growth of 16 percent and similarly increase in Asian tourist was observed as 5 percent. Therefore, South Africa was successful in attracting tourists from every corner of the world (“Tourism”). Tourism has helped South Africa to improve its economic growth rate. South Africa accelerated economic growth rate by 6 percent by year 2010. Thus, reducing poverty and unemployment to a great extent. Now strategists have recognized tourism as a vital element contributing in economic growth of the country. Tourism sector still has a lot of potential for growth. Keeping in view the present growth rate, AsgiSA has set number of goals for tourism industry for the next five years. Aim has been set to achieve about 500 000 new jobs for the people coupled with attracting about 8.5 million international tourists annually and to take the GDP to at least R100 billion a year (“Tourism”). The department f South African has introduced a tourism plan known asSho’t Left, which basically attracts the local and domestic tourists. This department provides information and access to tour operators. This department is helpful in guiding the local tourists about tourist sites and also offers them acceptable cheap tour packages (Media Club South Africa). Tourism’s Safety and Security in South Africa Crime Rape and murder are the high rate crimes in South Africa. People moving towards main tourist destinations have less risk of become victims of such crimes.Government has taken steps to protect tourists from such crimes. Townships are the hub of such violent criminal activities. Thus, it is important to accompany a reliable tour guide if you visit a township (Gov.UK). Common crimes encountered by tourists are as follow: Robbery and vehicle snatching are common during the dark hours. Mostly windows of cars are broken for stealing valuables and such incidents mostly occur when car is left unattended. Main activity areas for theft cases are international airports, and bus and railway stations. Visitors are mostly targeted by international fraud rings operating in South Africa. Hill brow districts of Johannesburg have witnessed high crime rate in the country including Rotunda bus terminus in the Central Business District. Tourists should mostly visit main roads and avoid driving at night when visiting Northern KwaZulu Natal and Zululand. These places are known for hi-jacking and robbery, particularly on isolated secondary roads (Ferreira & Harmse 83). Tourists need to be more vigilant while travelling in Kruger Park where there have been cases of car hijacking. Avoid isolated beaches and picnic spots where people are not present. Avoid walk alone, especially in countryside. Violent attacks were frequently reported on hikers and tourists on Table Mountain (Ferreira & Harmse 83). Call the police whenever something uncommon is observed. Mobile phone service is generally good in major towns and cities which can be used for seeking help. The rate of various crimes in South Africa is unfortunately high despite measures adopted by the government. Major crimes include Robbery, armed assault, and theft and pick pocketing. Therefore, tourists are vulnerable to these highly professional criminals. Only way to avoid it is to be cautious. Apart from these issues in the country and there are other things to keep in mind, such as health, terrorism, political tension and airline safety (“Tourist safety in South Africa”). Tourists should be more cautious when visiting South Africa. Beside all the bad things, South Africa is still considered a wonderful tourist destination. Works Cited Binns, Tony, and Nel, Etienne. "Tourism as a local development strategy in South Africa." The geographical journal 168.3 (2002): 235-247. Ferreira, S. L. A., and Harmse, A. C. "Crime and tourism in South Africa: international tourists perception and risk." South African Geographical Journal 82.2 (2000): 80-85. Gov.UK. “Foreign travel advice: South Africa.” Web. 27 Feb 2014. Media Club South Africa. “Tourism in South Africa.” Web. 27 Feb 2014. Rogerson, Christian Myles, and Visser, Gustav eds. Urban tourism in the developing world: The South African experience. Transaction Publishers, 2007. South African Tourism. Gearing Up to be Globally Competitive: Tourism Growth Strategy, 2005-2007. South African Tourism, 2004. “South Africa.” Infoplease. Web. 27 Feb 2014. “Tourism.” Web. 27 Feb 2014. “Tourist safety in South Africa.” Web. 27 Feb 2014. Read More