West Coast National Park
Overview and background of the Duinepos community based tourism project
African Development Options (ADO), a Section 21 (not for profit) company, in partnership with SA National Parks, have been contracted by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) in 2004 to develop a Community-Based Tourism project at Duinepos in the West Coast National Park (WCNP), near
Langebaan.
The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism has also provided the funding for this project, as part of their Sustainable Coastal Livelihoods Programme (SCLP) and their Social Responsibility Programme. This project is driven by the limited and reduced opportunities from marine living resources, the associated poverty in most coastal communities, and the need to create alternative opportunities for these communities. The objective of this project is therefore to establish alternative and sustainable livelihoods for individuals from the PDI component of the Langebaan community.
The project basically consists of the restoration of eight unused staff houses at Duinepos in the WCNP to full tourism standard, construction of associated infrastructure, the recruitment of individuals from the PDI component of the Langebaan community through an open and participative process, who will then, after a training and development process, own and manage the facility and generate their own income. As these will be the first formal tourism accommodation facilities in the WCNP, there is tremendous interest and the financial viability of the business has been established.
Apart from the group of approximately 8 individuals and their immediate relatives who will benefit directly from this business opportunity, the community at large will benefit by a contractually-required contribution of a percentage of nett profit to be paid into a selected community structure. The selection of project beneficiaries took place through interaction with the community groups and structures in Langebaan by way of one-on-one meetings, public meetings, and through posters and the general media. This enabled us to inform the community about the objectives of the project, to obtain their inputs, to have elected representatives from the community to sit on the project steering committee, and to advertise the procedures and criteria for recruiting the members of the Business Unit. In the end a group of three females were selected to form the Business Unit. They are Janine Samuels (Owner/Manager), Augusta Pretorius (Owner/Operations manager), and Hildegarde Valentyn (Owner/Administration Manager).
The BU group comprises of 2 individuals who are in the category of ‘youth’, and 2 who were previously unemployed. The BU have structured themselves into a Closed Corporation, called Duinepos Chalets, and have been operating four of the restored houses since January 2006. They also have a management agreement with Sanparks to operate the facility in the national park, which also includes a commission on monthly turnover to be paid to Sanparks. Further details of the project are as follows:
Business entity: Duinepos Chalets
Phase 1 (December 2004-December 2005): Project development, business unit
members recruited and trained, business unit established, four houses restored and
equipped.
Phase 2 (January 2007 – December 2007): Construction of 3 additional houses, office/reception, swimming pool, increased water and sewage systems, water and energy saving systems, roads and parking, landscaping.
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