Tourism

Dams and rivers offer great holiday experiences.

For a relatively dry province, the Free State offers a surprising number of places where fun can be had on and alongside water.

South Africa’s biggest dam, the Gariep dam (pictured), offers several resorts and large expanses of water on which pleasure crafts can meander. Forever Resorts has a popular resort with chalet accommodation and a caravan park on the banks of the Gariep Dam. Overlooking the dam is the 43-room de Stijl Gariep Hotel which has wedding and conference facilities. Afristay awarded the hotel its “Best Value Hotel” in 2018.

The Vaal River divides the province from its northern neighbours and is another popular place for recreation. The town of Parys, which also boasts a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the shape of the Vredefort Dome, is geared to river recreation in many guises.

The Free State has more than its fair share of annual festivals. The Mangaung African Cultural Festival (Macufe) has become a national and international event. Offerings range from music and craft stalls to poetry, film and theatre, a soccer tournament and boxing matches. The festival is probably best known for its varied musical performances, but the annual football tournament also gets good coverage and support.

Other festivals to attract good support are the Cherry Festival (Ficksburg), the Rose Festival (Bloemfontein), the Clarens Craft Beer Festival and the Vintage Tractor Fair (Clocolan).

NAMPO Harvest Day is strictly speaking not a tourism event but in 2019 more than 81 000 people

SECTOR INSIGHT

The Ficksburg Cherry Festival is famous.

descended on the small town of Bothaville on the banks of the Vals River, a tributary of the Vaal.

An innovative project put together by the citizens of this small town (population 90 000) is the Bothaville Info Guesthouse Project. This is a four-tier grading system for private home accommodation, from luxurious to more basic. The names to describe each grade are very apt: Golden Maize, White Maize, Yellow Maize and Green Maize. Guesthouses from neighbouring towns have joined the project which has seen fulltime accommodation options in Bothaville grow to four (from one) and the number of private guest facilities has reached almost 150 (from zero).

The Splendid Inn Bloemfontein by Premier is expected to open in Bloemfontein in the course of 2019. The 88-room hotel is part of the strategy of Premier Hotels & Resorts to having a presence in every major South African city.

South Africa’s largest hotel groups have several brands that cater to different markets. Protea Hotels has five properties in the Free State: Protea Hotel Bloemfontein by Marriott and Protea Hotel Willow Lake (both four-star), Protea Hotel Bloemfontein Central (three-star), Protea Hotel Montrose (Harrismith) and Protea Hotel Clarens.

The four-star Southern Sun Bloemfontein, part of the Tsogo Sun group, has 147 rooms, and the Goldfields Casino in Welkom is another Tsogo Sun property. The City Lodge Bloemfontein has 151 rooms, and there is a Road Lodge at the airport.

The Rantsoareng Group operates exclusively in the Free State and has three properties, the biggest of which is the President Hotel in Bloemfontein.

Sun International runs the Lesotho Sun and the Maseru Sun in neighbouring Lesotho. In Bloemfontein, the Windmill Casino and Entertainment Centre offers slot machines and gaming tables, plus the ability to host conferences for up to 250 delegates. The four-star Willow Lodge has 80 rooms. The Naledi Sun Hotel and Casino is about 65km from Bloemfontein.

A Heroes’ Park is to be constructed at Thaba Nchu and Tumahole with statues of Oliver Tambo and Fidel Castro. The much-delayed construction of a museum at Brandfort to commemorate Winnie Mandela living in that town has again been put on the agenda. Mandela endured a period of internal exile from 1977.

The Golden Gate Highlands National Park is one of South Africa’s great parks. It is administered by SANParks. Located in the Maluti Mountains, the park offers caving, hiking, horse riding, exploring caves and bird watching with a difference. The vulture restaurant gives a special perspective on birds of prey. The Basotho Cultural Village in the park offers an insight into African traditions and a taste of sorghum beer.

There are ambitious plans to create a biodiversity corridor between the Golden Gate Highlands National Park, the Royal Natal National Park and the Sterkfontein Nature Reserve which will involve the Qwaqwa community living at the base of the Drakensberg mountains. Near Memel, the Sneeuwberg Protected Environment, a multi-owner private initiative, has added 17 500ha to the province’s protected asset base.

Tourism is one of the Free State’s fastest-growing economic sectors, with leisure and business tourism enjoying the best growth within the industry.

The Free State Economic, Small Business Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs believes that the R7.7-billion game industry sector could grow even further across three subsectors, namely: • auctions and translocations • game ranching and eco-tourism (including hiking trails, bird watching, photographic safaris, 4x4 trails, canoeing, abseiling, lodges and conferences) • a combination of lodges, game breeding, eco-tourism and hunting.

ONLINE RESOURCES

Free State Department of Economic, Small Business Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs: www.edtea.fs.gov.za South African National Parks: www.sanparks.org South African Tourism: www.southafrica.net