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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

UFS awards degrees and diplomas during Spring graduation ceremony
2007-09-12

On 12 and 13 September 2007 the University of the Free State (UFS) will award 626 degrees and diplomas to students from the Main and Vista campuses during the spring graduation ceremony.

Altogether 464 degrees, 134 diplomas and 28 doctorates will be awarded. The diploma ceremony for all faculties will take place on Wednesday 12 September 2007 at 14:30 and the graduation ceremonies will take place on Thursday 13 September 2007 at 08:30 and 14:30.

On Thursday 13 September 2007 at 08:30, 128 degrees and 1 doctorate will be awarded in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences and 110 degrees and 12 doctorates will be awarded in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences.

At 14:30 that same day 82 degrees and 2 doctorates will be awarded in the Faculty of Health Sciences, 30 degrees and 2 doctorates in the Faculty of Law and 7 degrees and 4 doctorates in the Faculty of Theology.

Both ceremonies will be held in the Callie Human Centre on the Main Campus.

Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za   
5 September 2007
 

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