Planning for a Township Tourism Destination: Considering Red Flags from experiences in Atteridgeville, South Africa.

• Main Author: Prof Godfrey Anyumba
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: AfricaJournals 2017-02-01
• Series: African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure
• Subjects: Township Tourism; Built Environmental Professionals; Atteridgeville; 2010 World Cup; Red Flags
• Online Access: http://www.ajhtl.com/uploads/7/1/6/3/7163688/article_23_vol_6__2__2017.pdf

Planning for a Township Tourism destination can be an exciting exploration and a rewarding revelation of the raw materials that are required to deconstruct and re-construct in order for a successful destination to be created. In 2007, in the background of favourable numbers of domestic and international tourism arrivals and the heightened expectations of the FIFA 2010 World Soccer Cup tournament, the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (CTMM) i.e. Pretoria, sought to determine what Atteridgeville Township, amongst others, could offer the tourist as a destination. By 2014 none of the planned recommendations had been realized. The objective of this article is to forewarn the planners of the `red flags’ that one needs to look out for when planning for a township tourism destination. The study design consisted of primary and secondary source analysis and reflection. The products proposed for tourism are listed and their 2007 and 2014 conditions are contrasted with each other. A discussion follows that itemizes `red flags’ issues from the broad perspectives of ideology, policy and the environment. The conclusion is that, built environment professionals (BEP) should accept the challenging opportunity to plan for slum/ township tourism but must be aware of the underlying `red flags’ for every item they propose so as to realize their objective and make it sustainable.