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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

Delegation from a medical institute in China visits the UFS
2007-09-12

 

A senior delegation from Changchun Advanced Medical Institute (CAMI) in China recently visited the University of the Free State (UFS) to explore possibilities of cooperation, especially in nursing science. Areas of focus will include staff and student exchange, semester abroad programmes, collaborative research projects and capacity building initiatives in English proficiency and various other courses. The possibility for students from CAMI to pursue a post-basic bachelor’s degree programme at the UFS School of Nursing will also be explored. This will be one of the first formal agreements between the UFS and an institution in China. The agreement will be formalised during a reciprocal visit led by Prof. Letticia Moja (Dean: Faculty of Health Sciences at the UFS) to Changchun during September. Pictured here are, from the left: Dr Yuan Zhao Xin (International Communication, CAMI), Prof. Anita van der Merwe (Head of the UFS School of Nursing), Prof. Gert van Zyl (Head of the UFS School of Medicine), Prof. Dr Xin Li (Chief Secretary, CAMI), Dr Santie van Vuuren (Head of the School for Allied Health Professions at the UFS), Prof. Moja and Dr Aldo Stroebel (Head of Internationalisation at the UFS).
Photo: Supplied
 

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