Empowering Communities to Drive Sustainable Development …
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Each of the trail runs were followed by a feedback session during which staff of
the Department of Geography provided forum members with feedback on positive
aspects, challenges and opportunities for improvement. A number of domestic and
international tourists also took part in the trial runs, which provided valuable feedback
from the perspective of real tourists. The following serve as examples of the type of
feedback obtained (Nicolau et al. 2018): “… getting a great view of the culture …”,
“… completely different to anything we know …”, “… interesting because it is a
mixture of so many different things …” and “… a truly authentic experience …”.
During 2015–2016, the groups from the two villages started to cooperate more
closely, thus providing more synergy and cohesion among forum members. In 2016,
the trail runs developed to the point where it became clear that enough experience has
been gained to take the village tour concept into the public domain. To ensure sustainability further training followed, targeting aspects as communication, project management, budgeting and bookkeeping, before the launch of the Koffiekraal/Brakkuil
village tours in November 2016.
3.3.3 Critical Reflection
Although participating guests in the trial runs of the village tours were positive, several challenges were experienced during development and implementation (Nicolau
et al. 2018). Some of these, as the reliability of locals providing entertainment and
transport, are logistical and should be possible to address through planning and
coordination, but might in practice always cause some uncertainty. Due to the lack
of reliable 3G and internet coverage, communication between the Department of
Geography and forum members remained challenging though out the project and
sometimes had to wait until the next site visit. This aspect constrains operational
aspects as planning and booking for tours, while the poor transportation infrastructure makes it difficult and costly for forum members to access products required for
catering.
A more challenging concern, as perceived by the authors, was the apparent lack
of confidence of forum members while presenting attractions to visitors. Despite
the training interventions and trial runs of tours, this aspect did not improve and
manifested until the launch of the tours. This can be ascribed to the challenges forum
members experience when speaking in English with visitors, combined with the
limited knowledge/insight of the younger forum members into the history of the
villages. Although some matters therefore still require attention, the forum members
value their engagement with the project—in terms of personal growth and the goal to
provide a sustainable community-based tour (Nicolau et al. 2018). Their activities are
reflected on their Facebook Page (BIG 5 Community Tourism Forum 2016), which
serves as platform for future initiatives.
537
Each of the trail runs were followed by a feedback session during which staff of
the Department of Geography provided forum members with feedback on positive
aspects, challenges and opportunities for improvement. A number of domestic and
international tourists also took part in the trial runs, which provided valuable feedback
from the perspective of real tourists. The following serve as examples of the type of
feedback obtained (Nicolau et al. 2018): “… getting a great view of the culture …”,
“… completely different to anything we know …”, “… interesting because it is a
mixture of so many different things …” and “… a truly authentic experience …”.
During 2015–2016, the groups from the two villages started to cooperate more
closely, thus providing more synergy and cohesion among forum members. In 2016,
the trail runs developed to the point where it became clear that enough experience has
been gained to take the village tour concept into the public domain. To ensure sustainability further training followed, targeting aspects as communication, project management, budgeting and bookkeeping, before the launch of the Koffiekraal/Brakkuil
village tours in November 2016.
3.3.3 Critical Reflection
Although participating guests in the trial runs of the village tours were positive, several challenges were experienced during development and implementation (Nicolau
et al. 2018). Some of these, as the reliability of locals providing entertainment and
transport, are logistical and should be possible to address through planning and
coordination, but might in practice always cause some uncertainty. Due to the lack
of reliable 3G and internet coverage, communication between the Department of
Geography and forum members remained challenging though out the project and
sometimes had to wait until the next site visit. This aspect constrains operational
aspects as planning and booking for tours, while the poor transportation infrastructure makes it difficult and costly for forum members to access products required for
catering.
A more challenging concern, as perceived by the authors, was the apparent lack
of confidence of forum members while presenting attractions to visitors. Despite
the training interventions and trial runs of tours, this aspect did not improve and
manifested until the launch of the tours. This can be ascribed to the challenges forum
members experience when speaking in English with visitors, combined with the
limited knowledge/insight of the younger forum members into the history of the
villages. Although some matters therefore still require attention, the forum members
value their engagement with the project—in terms of personal growth and the goal to
provide a sustainable community-based tour (Nicolau et al. 2018). Their activities are
reflected on their Facebook Page (BIG 5 Community Tourism Forum 2016), which
serves as platform for future initiatives.