JOHANNESBURG – The tourism sector is still struggling to recover from the impact of COVID-19 and a sluggish economy.
To boost visitor numbers, tourism space like Golden Gate Highlands National Park in the Free State is revamping.
The park manager Paddy Gordon says visitor numbers dropped drastically during the pandemic, with some aspects of tourism nearly coming to a standstill.
"Numbers dropped significantly, practically to zero during Covid-19 and the following year wasn’t much better due to ongoing international travel restrictions," he explained.
Despite this, Gordon noted that certain activities, like conferences and camping, saw a major increase as people sought affordable outdoor escapes after being stuck indoors.
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"Camping made sense because people felt trapped during COVID and wanted escape at a low costs so, we focused on making our campsite fully functional again," he said.
While the park has seen some recovery, Gordan says 60% of its current visitors are local, and only 40% are international tourists.
The goal now is to change this, Gordan says.
"People have been going to many holiday destinations and did not mind crowded spaces but people are now selecting spaces which are open and wild spaces and places where they can go out to nature.
"Golden Gates is perfectly located in the middle of the country close to Bloemfontein, Durban and Gauteng and a variety of accommodation," he said.