SANParks is looking at developing additional products and services to attract a different crop of visitors to its parks and raise additional funds, according to Glenn Phillips, SANParks Managing Executive, who was speaking at the release of its 2022 Responsible Tourism Strategy (2022 RTS) on March 26.
“SANParks tourism operates at very high occupancies and the opportunities to grow simply out of annual rate increases are just not sustainable. The only option is to develop additional products and services that lend themselves to the natural attributes in each specific park, but to do so in a responsible and sustainable manner,” said Phillips.
He said one of the key challenges faced by SANParks was funding. “The conservation estate under the management of SANParks has grown by 558 000 hectares since 2000 and conservation is an expensive business. The scope of SANParks’ responsibilities is staggering. Apart from the conservation aspect and on-going research, there are, for instance, 4 223km of tourist roads that have to be maintained.
“If we were to extrapolate the last five years’ revenue and operational cost trends over the coming 10 years, a scary picture emerges,” he said.
Phillips said it was estimated that “profit” from tourism operations should be in the region of around R800 million, while operational costs were expected to reach around R1, 4 billion – a massive shortfall. He said the fight against the scourge of rhino poaching had also drained significant financial resources that SANParks simply did not have.
“We are not only seeing visitors’ needs and expectation changing but government funding for the national parks is also changing,” said Phillips.
The new crop of visitors that SANParks wishes to attract, according to Phillips, will want to do more than drive around in their car, hoping for a glimpse of the Big Five. “They will want to be out in the veld, hiking, biking, swimming, canoeing, beachcombing, mountaineering, dining under the stars. They expect more than a rondavel, a clean ablution block and a communal fire.”
He said ultimately, SANParks would like to see its domestic visitor base becoming more representative of the country’s demographics. “This will take time and we understand that the programmes that we put in place need to achieve the long-term goals, so education of children, for example, is a key part of the strategy.”
When asked how SANParks planned to work with the travel trade to promote the new activities, Phillips said it would inform the trade through mediums such as press releases, the SANParks website, educationals, roadshows, one-on-one sales presentations and exhibitions and trade shows.
He said the process of compiling a responsible tourism product development would now be rolled out to specific parks i.e. Golden Gate, Marakele, Garden Route and Table Mountain National Parks.
“Once these are finalised we would embark on a process to identify ‘low-hanging fruit’ products, which could be implemented easily, e.g. hiring out mountain bikes at Golden Gate. This I foresee will be developed in the coming months.
“We are confident that, with the co-operation of communities surrounding our parks, commitment from our staff and robust sales and marketing, we will be able to overcome whatever challenges might arise. The strategy is an adaptive one but provides a guiding light that will need adjusting now and again to give us the required output,” he concluded.
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