536
R. Pretorius and M. Nicolau
3.3.1 Development/Skills Training Phase
A variety of strategies during the training phase were utilised to get participants
interested in and excited about the possibilities of community-based tourism. These
included the use of video clips, marketing material, tourism maps and case studies
of community-based tourism projects. In this way, they received the necessary guidance to identify potential resources for tourism in their own area, thus realising the
value of what is available to them. In this regard the “Six H” framework of tourism
(adapted from Smith n.d.)—“Habitat, Hospitality, History, Heritage, Humans and
Handicraft”—was very useful and repeatedly used to make connections with local
examples.
Classroom activities included sessions for sharing expectations about the training
and a workbook that had to be completed, covering topics as forces of attraction
for tourists, marketing and packaging of tourism products and operational considerations. The application of all training within a local context formed the purpose
of the learning interactions. To support classroom activities, a number of walks in
and around Koffiekraal/Brakkuil allowed the community members the opportunity to
identify a possible tourist attractions and participants could act as guides and provide
information on their history, culture and environment. In addition, participants were
able to join a field trip to a local tourist destination, so that they could get a real-life
experience what it is like to be a tourist.
Comments of participants illustrate the impact of the training on participants
(Nicolau et al. 2018): “I didn’t know that what we have can be important to the
world”, “We have ourselves and things around us”, “I learned that we can use things
around us to develop ourselves and making a living out of it”, “… when the time is
right I can get involved in this field …”, “My brain is touring now. I want to know
more about tourism”, “The community can make their own business to entice people
to come to your place”. In total 23 participants completed the training phase and
received Unisa attendance certificates in March 2014.
3.3.2 Application/Implementation Phase
Following the training, ten community members from Koffiekraal and Brakkuil
expressed interest to continue and use their newly gained knowledge to create village
tours for their respective villages. Over the period 2014–2016, staff of the Department of Geography help develop and conduct trial runs of village tours, which aimed
to capacitate the group to provide fully-fledged village tour packages as part of a
self-employment initiative. To this end a forum, the BIG 5 Community Tourism
Forum, was created to provide structure for planning and execution of activities.
The trial runs aimed to develop an authentic tourism experience and experimented
with options as visits to historical graveyards, traditional cuisine and entertainment,
traditional living spaces, remains of historic architecture, community food gardens
and trees with traditional value.
R. Pretorius and M. Nicolau
3.3.1 Development/Skills Training Phase
A variety of strategies during the training phase were utilised to get participants
interested in and excited about the possibilities of community-based tourism. These
included the use of video clips, marketing material, tourism maps and case studies
of community-based tourism projects. In this way, they received the necessary guidance to identify potential resources for tourism in their own area, thus realising the
value of what is available to them. In this regard the “Six H” framework of tourism
(adapted from Smith n.d.)—“Habitat, Hospitality, History, Heritage, Humans and
Handicraft”—was very useful and repeatedly used to make connections with local
examples.
Classroom activities included sessions for sharing expectations about the training
and a workbook that had to be completed, covering topics as forces of attraction
for tourists, marketing and packaging of tourism products and operational considerations. The application of all training within a local context formed the purpose
of the learning interactions. To support classroom activities, a number of walks in
and around Koffiekraal/Brakkuil allowed the community members the opportunity to
identify a possible tourist attractions and participants could act as guides and provide
information on their history, culture and environment. In addition, participants were
able to join a field trip to a local tourist destination, so that they could get a real-life
experience what it is like to be a tourist.
Comments of participants illustrate the impact of the training on participants
(Nicolau et al. 2018): “I didn’t know that what we have can be important to the
world”, “We have ourselves and things around us”, “I learned that we can use things
around us to develop ourselves and making a living out of it”, “… when the time is
right I can get involved in this field …”, “My brain is touring now. I want to know
more about tourism”, “The community can make their own business to entice people
to come to your place”. In total 23 participants completed the training phase and
received Unisa attendance certificates in March 2014.
3.3.2 Application/Implementation Phase
Following the training, ten community members from Koffiekraal and Brakkuil
expressed interest to continue and use their newly gained knowledge to create village
tours for their respective villages. Over the period 2014–2016, staff of the Department of Geography help develop and conduct trial runs of village tours, which aimed
to capacitate the group to provide fully-fledged village tour packages as part of a
self-employment initiative. To this end a forum, the BIG 5 Community Tourism
Forum, was created to provide structure for planning and execution of activities.
The trial runs aimed to develop an authentic tourism experience and experimented
with options as visits to historical graveyards, traditional cuisine and entertainment,
traditional living spaces, remains of historic architecture, community food gardens
and trees with traditional value.