Spring is in full swing and the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality is driving the message home as part of its Tourism Month activities.
A breakfast information session on Friday at Bridge Street Brewery in South End shed light on the city’s Green Flag Trails project and other Tourism Safety initiatives planned for September.
The event also offered content creators, tour operators and the media a one-hour guided hike on the Lower Guinea Fowl Trail, the second in a series of four.
Under the 2023 United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) theme, “Tourism and Green Investment”, the municipality’s economic development, tourism and agriculture directorate on Monday lifted the lid on the month-long programme at Nyosi Wildlife Reserve.
The third event at Van Stadens Wildflower Reserve near Woodridge on September 25 will usher in the Van Stadens Flower Festival and unveil 11 trails awarded Green Flag accreditation.
The programme concludes with the New Brighton Heritage Cycle Tour on September 27, offering leisurely art and local music, theatre, poetry, as well as lunch experiences.
During its presentation at Bridge Street, the municipality revealed the city, for the first time in 2023, boasted nearly two dozen assessed hiking trails.
The linear or circular trails identified by the Green Flag scheme as popular attractions were:
- Coastal Fynbos, 2,8km;
- Grootkloof, 3,1km;
- Grysbok, 3,3km;
- Lady’s Slipper, 5,2km;
- Van Der Kemp’s Kloof, 6,7km;
- Aloe, 7km; Van Stadens, 7,5km;
- Lower Guinea Fowl, 7,8km;
- Sacramento, 7,9km;
- Maitland Reserve, 8,9km; and
- Roseate Tern, 9,6km
However, a lack of proper marketing meant the trails had not reached domestic and international visitors.
Akin to the Blue Flag accreditation for beaches, the municipality aims to offset associated eco-tourism spin-offs through acquiring Green Flag accreditation.
The Green Flag Award was introduced in 1997 to recognise and reward well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark for the management of recreational outdoor spaces around the world.
The system ensures environmentally accountable trails remain a valued and ongoing resource for access to nature, recreation and trail sports, health and tourism and other benefits for local communities.
Freelance nature and foraging guide Graeme Pienaar, one of several qualified Green Flag assessors contracted in October to carry out rigorous assessments, said trail managers and owners were key to maintaining the status.
“It also provides for responsible management into the future as the audits will be redone in a couple of years to ensure what was put in place during the initial assessments has been done.”
Acting municipal executive director Mpho Pebane said economic development, tourism and agriculture aimed to attract an increase in visitor traffic.
“Tourism Month provides us with an opportunity to promote our destination and for local visitors and others in the region to take advantage of various packages and opportunities to travel in the country.
“A series of trail hiking [activities] will take place during the month and we have collaborated with influencers with a huge following, who will act as our ambassadors,” Pebane said.
Local influencer Ziyanda “Yaya” Sani said she was eager to showcase the best in the metro.
“Most of my audience is local and interested in my lifestyle in the city, and that is why I put my hand up for this Tourism Month #ShareTheBay [social media] campaign.”
HeraldLIVE