Tourism & Leisure
• The Free State is targeting tourism for investment
There is a holiday for every kind of tourist in the Free State and increased investment in the sector is enlarging the offering and enhancing the quality of visitors’ experiences. The Free State’s very diverse physical environment lends itself to rugged mountaineering and hiking in the east, game viewing and hunting in a variety of locations and water sports, angling and birding at any one of the very many lakes, dams and rivers throughout the region. San paintings, Anglo- Boer War sites and memorials, traditional Sotho villages and crafts all add up to an eclectic historical, cultural and artistic mix.
A site that combines historical significance with geological interest is the Vredefort Dome, near the northern town of Parys. One of South Africa’s seven World Heritage Sites, the Vredefort Dome is the site where a 10km-wide meteorite slammed into the Earth two billion years ago. The edge, depicting the inner circle of impact, measures about 180km and can be looked at from among the hills of Parys and Vredefort.
The other major national tourism asset in the Free State is the Golden Gate Highlands National Park, situated in the foothills of the Maluti Mountains just to the north of the province’s border with the Kingdom of Lesotho. The park earned its name from the effect of the slanting sun on the park’s high sandstone cliffs, an image sometimes used in provincial destination branding. The rare bearded vulture is one of many fascinating creatures who inhabits the park’s 11 600 hectares. Others include the bald ibis, black wildebeest, eland and oribi.
Tourism has been identified by the Free State Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA) as a key sector to attract investment. The province’s assets are listed as open skies, sandstone mountains, green hills, golden fields, hiking trails, horse treks, mountain climbing, fishing, and traditional villages and music. The province has eight holiday resorts and FIPA is looking for private investors to upgrade, revamp, develop and manage these resorts, most of which are on rivers or dams.
The main branding of the Free State as a tourist destination emphasises open skies and the natural environment and, with 54 hiking trails, 760km of water shoreline, excellent game reserves, camping sites and limitless birding opportunities, this is entirely logical. However, many operators within the province are realising that there are many other lucrative subsectors. Conference facilities are available at most big hotels and game resorts and this is a sector that is growing. The small towns of the Free State were among the first in South Africa to market themselves by means of festivals. The Ficksburg Cherry Festival has been a popular event since 1969 and other eastern and north-eastern Free State towns, like Clarens, all have their own unique character.
Casino taxes contributed nearly 7% of total provincial revenue in the 2007/08 financial year and approximately R42-million is expected to be paid in for the 2008/09 year. The provincial government also made several million rand from the sale of game.
The excellent website of the Free State Tourism Authority describes the province’s tourist offering in five geographical districts.
Gariep (also Xhariep, south)
The most obvious feature of this region is the
Gariep Dam, South Africa’s biggest. The dam
wall rises 90m above the foundations and the
surface area of the dam is 36 000 hectares. Other
highlights include an open-mine museum and a
geographical oddity in the town of Zastron – a hole
in a sandstone ridge known as the ‘Eye of Zastron’.
Smithfield and Rouxville, two towns on the district’s eastern edge, form part of the Friendly N6 route, the tourism operation that links the town of Bloemfontein in the interior with East London on the coast. Other attractions in the east are the Maluti Mountains, where delicate San rock paintings can be found, and the Maluti Route.
A popular stopover venue just off the N1 highway, between Cape Town and Johannesburg, is the village of Philippolis. A number of guest houses and restaurants have opened in recent years and the town celebrates its connection to the famous writer, Lourens van der Post, through a memorial garden and writers’ workshops. Jacobsdal lies in the north-western corner of the district and is very near the site on the Modder River, where the Black Watch was decimated at Magersfontein in the early stages of the Anglo-Boer War. The Landzicht wine cellar is another attraction.
Motheo (central)
From the city of Bloemfontein to mountains and
valleys, from big-city living and formal museums
to the natural beauty of the Maluti Mountains,
and the traditional villages and crafts of the
Basotho people, Motheo offers a wide array of
experiences and attractions.
Bloemfontein is known as the City of Roses and the Free State National Botanical Gardens has about 400 species of plants. The Bloemfontein Zoo has animals representing each of the Big Five, as well as antelope, tigers and hippos. An unusual resident is the liger, a cross between a tiger and a lion.
Eight tourist routes have been developed for the Motheo district. Towns like Thaba Nchu and Ladybrand, bordering the mountainous Lesotho, are the most geared to tourism. The Two Nations Sports Festival held annually between Ladybrand and Maseru includes the only marathon in the world that starts in one country and ends in another. The Caledon 400 off-road championship offers sporting thrills of a different kind, as does the capital city’s Wheels Expo.
Lejweleputswa (west)
The western plains are mainly known for
endless hectares of maize and deep gold mines,
but guests visiting the St Helena gold mine in Welkom are able to partake of wine in the world’s
deepest wine cellar – 857m below the surface!
The second-largest private agricultural show in the world comes to Bothaville every year. In 1995, only 80 visitors could spend the night in the town but, by the 2007 Nampo Harvest Day, overnight accommodation was supplied to more than 4 000 guests. It was estimated that parttime accommodation suppliers alone generated nearly R1-million.
Welkom is a well-planned city that achieved fame for its large and well-maintained traffic circles before they became popular in other parts of the country. Two recreational facilities, named after the founder of the town, Ernest Oppenheimer, offer quite different experiences. The Ernest Oppenheimer Theatre is a well-equipped centre of the arts, while the Oppenheimer Park Golf Club is a challenging 18-hole parkland course. The Goldfields Casino is near Welkom.
Two of the province’s nature reserves are situated in this district, with the Willem Pretorius Nature Reserve hosting the world’s largest herd of black wildebeest. Social and political sites of historical interest include the house where Winnie Madikizela Mandela spent nearly a decade in internal exile for her role in the struggle against apartheid. The Winburg Voortrekker Monument commemorates the efforts of the Afrikaners who sought independence from Britain in the middle of the 19th century.
Fezile Dabi (north)
Apart from the Vredefort Dome, the principal
tourist attraction of this district is the Vaal Dam.
Numerous resorts occur along the dam’s edges
and water sports of every sort are on offer. In
addition, Anglo-Boer War sites and pristine San
paintings cater to the interests of artists and
historians and the like.
Further to the south, the town of Kroonstad is a regional centre of education and agriculture. It is a pretty and well-wooded town because of its position on the Vals River, which also allows for water sports. In addition, Kroonstad is the national headquarters for the sport of jukskei.
Thabo Mofutsanyana (north east) The superb scenic beauty of the Drakensberg and Maluti mountain ranges define this district, through which travellers from the west and north pass into KwaZulu-Natal. The Golden Gate National Park, which straddles the northern-most section of the district, is the most famous feature.
A Basuto cultural village at Maluti-a-Phofung, trout fishing, water sports at Sterkfontein Dam and birding across the whole region present further exciting opportunities for tourism in the province.
KEY CONTACTS
Clarens: www.clarenstourism.co.za
Ficksburg Cherry Festival:
www.cherryfestival.co.za
Free State Department of Tourism, Environmental
and Economic Affairs: www.dteea.fs.gov.za
Free State Gambling and Racing Board:
www.fsgb.co.za
Free State Investment Promotion Agency:
www.fipa.org.za
Free State Tourism Authority:
www.freestatetourism.org
Motheo Tourism: www.motheo.co.za
South African National Parks: www.sanparks.co.za
South African Tourism: www.southafrica.net
SouthAfrica.info: www.southafrica.info
Southern Africa Tourism Services
Association: www.satsa.com
Tourism Grading Council of South Africa:
www.tourismgrading.co.za
