Tourism

Andrew Layman:  PCB CEO

Many readers will not know that the Ingwe Local Municipality is the one in which Creighton is located.    This municipality is part of the Sisonke District Municipality, by the way.    Thanks to the particular interests and the passionate energy of one Dudley Smith, Creighton is now the home of the Sisonke Stimela, a luxury steam train that is being operated by Signature Life Hotels.    It took ten years to bring this particular tourism project to fruition, and now that this has happened, it will be expanded to include other exciting and unique opportunities for visitors.     The train is extremely luxurious, and very expensive to enjoy.    There is a regular schedule of trips which cover the midlands and southern Drakensberg areas and there is the opportunity for companies to charter the train for their special corporate functions.  

Like many municipalities, Ingwe reflects a well-established economy on the one hand and abject poverty and high unemployment on the other.    It boasts of a successful dairy farming industry which supplies all of ten percent or more of the country’s milk.   In addition, its timber industry is also significant.   The dairy farming has reached high levels of production as a result of progressive practices.     But aside from the prosperous farmers, there are not many other people from whom the Municipality is able to gather the income it needs to perform its delivery obligations.   The decision to invest time and money in a niche tourism project must have been a very difficult one to make, but Dudley Smith is persuasive, very enthusiastic and successful in the translation of a blueprint into reality.    So, the locomotive and the train were acquired, the railway lines restored to where they needed to be, a station-cum-municipal centre built and the assets then leased to a private company for operation.     In the process, some jobs have been created, although too few in number to really make a dent in the unemployment rate.    Just how much the poor local community will benefit from this project, remains to be seen, especially as the profits from the operation of the train will accrue to a company based elsewhere.    Local Economic Development (LED) is a complex matter, however, and projects and strategies have variable benefits.   While some contribute valuably to poverty alleviation and community upliftment, and might even create a significant number of jobs, others make established businesses more prosperous by increasing the amount of trade conducted in the region.  The more people who are attracted to a particular area, the greater the chance of later economic opportunities from which more people may benefit.    In this particular instance, it is the income of the municipality that will be enhanced in the longer term and this will enable it to perform better in its delivery, provided that sound management ensures that the money coming in is not wasted.   It will take some time for the lease income to offset the millions spent on the project, but in the meantime, the train opens new vistas for tourism.  

One may question whether the benefits of tourism are always as good as some people claim especially if the tourists do not spend time or money in the town or community themselves.   But, since government has lauded the value of tourism, all municipalities are chasing that elusive special project that will set the municipality apart from others – the competitive edge, if you like.    In the case of Ingwe, this project must rank very highly.   And, it is to be augmented by additional attractions in the course of time.    The Sisonke municipal area is the home of twenty-one missions established by the Trappist order.    These offer enormous potential in terms of their history and their value as physical community hubs.    The one closest to Creighton is called Centacow.   It has a beautiful church with art that is absolutely unique.   This mission was home to a young Gerard Bhengu, an internationally-acclaimed artist, much of whose work was collected by Killie Campbell.   By arrangement with the UKZN, the custodian of the Killie Campbell collection, these works will be exhibited in time in a gallery at Centacow.   This will add considerable lustre to the concept of mission tourism which is being pursued.  

Sisonke is also unique in another respect.  There are as many as sixty-eight endemic bird species to be found there.    The Zululand Birding Route is well-known, I believe, but it only has two species that will not be found anywhere else.    In the course of time, provided that there continue to be enthusiastic and passionate champions to do the work and meet the many challenges, this rural, out-of-the-way area will have a tourism product which consists of steam trains, missions, art and birds.   Who would have thought that this would be possible?  

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