Tourism stakeholders have called for major public and private investment along Mpumalanga’s spectacular Panorama Route, believing that the region has the potential to create at least 3 000 additional jobs and become South Africa’s premier tourist route.
Running along the Blyde River Canyon, the world’s third-largest canyon, the route – a popular add-on to Kruger National Park itineraries – encompasses attractions such as God’s Window, the Graskop Gorge Lift, Bourke’s Luck Potholes, the Three Rondavels and numerous waterfalls.
Speaking at a Tourism Transformation Fund (TTF) event at the Graskop Gorge Lift on Thursday, May 23, high-level private and public sector roleplayers stressed the need for new attractions along the route.
“We are sitting here with an opportunity to create more than 3 000 jobs. What we need to be able to do is to partner with government – which owns many of the sites – to ensure that tourist numbers do not stagnate. We have a private sector that is capable of turning this route into the most-visited route in the country,” said SATSA Chairperson Oupa Pilane, Co-Founder of the Graskop Gorge Lift Company.
Built with the assistance of R43 million (€2.1m) in funding through the TTF and opened at the end of 2017, Pilane’s business has proven to be a catalytic project for the route and an encouraging example of public private partnership (PPP) success. According to Pilane, 195 000 tourists visited the attraction last year. Already featuring a 51-metre high outdoor glass elevator, a suspension bridge and various retail and dining offerings, the project is set to be further enhanced through the construction of a unique cliff-side walkway and mid-range accommodation.
Delays on mega-projects
Tourism growth on the Panorama Route has been frustrated by delays in implementing flagship PPP projects such as the R500 million (€24.5m) God’s Window Skywalk. Covering an area of 25 000sqm, the project will comprise a cantilevered glass walkway, dining areas, a museum, conferencing facilities and a craft market.
A partnership between the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) – which manages the majority of facilities along the Panorama Route – the Motsamayi Tourism Group and community associations, the project has the potential to create over 150 jobs.
Construction was intended to start in early 2024, but the MTPA said in its latest annual report that process delays in feasibility studies, along with hampered human resource capacity, inefficient internal processes and budget constraints have all contributed to the “slow introduction of new tourism products.”
‘World’s biggest cable-car’
Fish Mahlalela, Deputy Minister for the Department of Tourism, said that government had further ambitious plans for the region.
“One of the investments we are aiming for in the next few years is the development of the largest cable-car system in the world, which could run all the way through the Blyde River Canyon. We must have the courage to turn our back from the old to the new. But we require investment and political will,” said Mahlalela.
Mahlalela said the Department of Tourism’s Investment Unit was playing an active role in seeking to lure foreign direct investors to such mega-projects, particularly through presentation of investment portfolios at trade shows.
