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19 March 2019 | Story Dr Cinde Greyling
Dr Mutana and Prof Mukwada
Many people enjoy spending time in the mountainous Drakensberg region. Prof Geofrey Mukwada’s involvement with the UFS Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) sparked an interest in sustainable tourism in the area. Pictured here are Dr Sarudzai Mutana with Prof Mukwada.

Not only is the Qwaqwa Campus situated in a beautiful region – its researchers also contribute to keeping the area pristine. Recent research by Prof Geofrey Mukwada and his PhD student, Dr Sarudzai Mutana, focused on indicators monitoring sustainable tourism development in the Drakensberg region.

Dr Mukwada is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography on the University of the Free State (UFS) Qwaqwa Campus. 

Our majestic mountains are fragile

Many people enjoy spending time in the mountainous Drakensberg region – either as adventure seekers exploring the many trails, or just relaxing and reconnecting with nature. Prof Mukwada’s involvement with the UFS Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) sparked an interest in sustainable tourism in the area. “Mountains are fragile but attractive environments which continue to attract tourists,” he said. “Tourism is one of the major business sectors in the Drakensberg region, with promising growth opportunities and proving to be an anchor of green economy in the future – if practiced correctly.” Unfortunately, the issue of monitoring sustainable tourism has not been widely researched in African mountains. 

According to international standards

“We specifically looked at the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC), which is an international best-practice framework to help destinations monitor and ensure that tourism is developed in a responsible manner,” Prof Mukwada explained. “South Africa’s Manual for Responsible Tourism was designed according to some of the recommendations of the GSTC. But we found that, while the tourism and hospitality operators in the Drakensberg region appreciates the need to monitor and ensure sustainable tourism in the area, there is limited use of indicators as a tool for monitoring.” 

Forward together

There are competing demands between land-use and development practices and alternatives in the region – unless the focus shifts to sustainable practices, the short-term gains could be followed by dire consequences. “We suggest an integrated monitoring of tourism development, with a pro-poor focus that involves more local community leaders. Going forward, we would like to see the industry adopt the indicators proposed in our study.”

News Archive

University hosts second International winter school
2012-08-17

Participating in the Winter School on Pluralism and Development were, from the left, back: Sitirohmanatin Fitriani, Indonesia; Pallavi Mishra, India; Ajita Vidyarthi, India; Damairia Pakpahan, Indonesia; Josephine Kigozi, Uganda and Annemarte van Kruchten, The Netherlands; in the front: Dot Vermeulen, South Africa and Masabata Mokgesi, South Africa.
Photo: Linda Fekisi
17 August 2012

The University of the Free State (UFS) once again hosted the annual international winter school on Pluralism and Development. Participants from India, Indonesia, Uganda, Zimbabwe and The Netherlands attended the winter school.

The international Winter School, organised by the University of Humanistic Studies in The Netherlands was held in South-Africa, on the Bloemfontein Campus, for the first time in 2011. It is held in partnership with the International Institute for Studies in Race, Reconciliation and Social Justice.

The winter school brings together an international group of staff from civil society based organisations, activists and graduate students who engage in critical thinking about issues such as ethics, human rights, political theory, sustainable development, governance, gender and education.

Participants took part in a series of lectures, workshops and field trips. The field trips included a visit to the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg.
 

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