News and Events CITY PRESS 28 Mar 2010 Page 38
| CITY PRESS 28 Mar 2010 Page 38 |
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Greening as a legacy programme THE Department of Economic Development and Environmental Affairs Unit has developed a 201.0 Greening and Legacy Programme.
It has identified Grahamstown - host of the Grahamstown National Arts Festival, East London and Port Alfred, which was awarded the cleanest provincial town status, as the preferred towns for its 2010 Greening Plan. The towns are part of the N2 tourist route to the Wild Coast.
Elements of the 2010 Greening and Legacy Plan include:
· Planting up to 4000 indigenous trees in tourist attraction areas, schools and local communities,
· Placement of locally designed waste bins on town main roads, B&Bs and local communities.
· The launch of a series of Responsible Tourism Campaigns in preparation for the Soccer World Cup to benefit locals, SMMEs and tourists.
· Creating employment for locals.
A crucial issue around greening is encouraging event participants to become actively involved in greening initiatives and to ensure that t:he public is aware of the process.
Raising awareness is a critical element of leaving behind and creating a legacy of sustainable development best practice.
Incorporating a principle to address participation and cornrnunication will ensure that appropriate Interventions (that facilitate broader involvement and awareness and encourage and support appropriate behaviour change) are included in an event-greening plan.
The participation, communication, education and public awareness principle include:
· Developing and implementing a broad communication strategy and action plan.
· Involving local media before, during and after the event.
· Organising competitions to create awareness and acquire or require active participation from the local community.
For any economy to develop, sector development is required with the stringent measures of safeguarding the Investment in the tourism industry. To meet this demand, many interventions were flagged with a particular focus on:
· Economic viability of rural tourism initiatives for poverty alleviation.
· Assist with rural area tourism staffing needs and provide training in hospitality and service excellence.
· Geographic spread of tourism revenue to under-marketed regions.
· Marketing support for neglected potential tourism nodes.
These projects fall within the DEDEA -funded 2010 Co-ordinating Programme administered/hosted by the Eastern Cape Tourism Board. |