Background to the study area

Bloemfontein, which is the capital city of the Free State province and of the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality, seats the House of the Appeal Court, as well as being the judicial capital of South Africa (Free State Tourism Authority, 2017). The city, which is the economic and commercial hub of the Free State province (Bloemfontein Travel Guide, 2016), covers an area of 236.17² km, and it has an approximate population of 464 571 (South Africa, 2015). It is located in central South Africa, on the southern edge of the Highveld, at an elevation of 1 400 m (4 600 ft), bordering on the semi-arid region of the Karoo (South Africa, 2015).

Bloemfontein is an ideal stopover for those travelling from Gauteng to Cape Town, being located about 400 km from Johannesburg and roughly 1 000 km from Cape Town.

According to Tripadvisor (2015), Bloemfontein is known informally as the City of Roses, both because of the abundance of the blooms throughout the city, and because of the annual festival that is dedicated to the flower. Its name, ‘City of Roses’, can be traced back to the place on which the city now stands being found by a white settler called Brits, who was in search of grazing land for his livestock at the time. In addition, Bloemfontein has historical significance, with its many museums and military buildings recording its association with the Anglo-Boer War (also known as the South African War), as well as with other notable history of the region (Bloemfontein Travel Guide, 2016). Several sports teams and stadiums also call the city home (Tripadvisor, 2015).

Figure 4.1: Map of the Free State province, showing the geographic location of Bloemfontein Source: http://www.sa-venues.com/maps/freestate_regional.htm (2013).

Overview of tourism in the Free State province – Bloemfontein

According to Naidoo (2012), the Free State province’s 2005-2014 Growth and Development Strategy identifies tourism as being the key developmental sector, which is earmarked for job creation and for the development of small, medium and macro enterprises (SMMEs). This is despite the sector underperforming in comparison to other provinces in the country, with it having lost market share as a result. The Free State province’s Provincial Spatial Development Framework (PSDF) (2013) states that the province’s tourism sector depends mainly on the domestic market, and on some day visitors from Lesotho, with an emphasis on business tourism. Naidoo (2012) states that the Growth and Development Strategy identifies the following as providing the competitive advantage of the Free State province in terms of tourism development: the natural scenery; the historical and cultural heritage; and the good road network that integrates the province with the rest of the country.

The 2005–2014 strategy identified the following as a means of improving the performance of the sector in the province:

 the development of ecotourism products and routes in the rural areas;

 the marketing of Bloemfontein’s heritage and cultural attractions;

 the development of a business tourism focus in Mangaung;

 the enhancement of the marketing of Macufe and the Vryfees (previously the Volksblad Kunstefees); and

 the marketing to domestic tourists, especially to those from Gauteng.

Bloemfontein is home to numerous tourism products, including such museums and monuments as the National Women’s Monument, which paid tribute to the 20 370 Boer women and children who died during the Anglo-Boer War, the National Afrikaans Literacy Museum and Research Centre, and the Agriculture Museum (Booktravel, 2016). Other interesting tourism products include many interesting and varied architectural styles, including those featuring Mediterranean, British Renaissance, and Classical influences. Some of the notable buildings include the Appeal Court, the 1st and 4th Raadsaal, the Presidency, the sandstone City Hall, the Queen's Fort, the Anglican Cathedral, and the Dutch Reformed Church. The provincial heritage site at Maphikela House in Batho Village is the place where the African National Congress (ANC) was founded in 1912 (Booktravel, 2016).

Bloemfontein is home to the Free State's only botanical gardens, which contains a variety of Karoo plants, as well as more than 100 species of birds and 54 reptile species. King's Park houses Prince's Rose Garden and the zoo, where the world's first liger (a mix between a tiger and a lion) was bred. Bloemfontein is also home to the Franklin Nature Reserve, which is located on Naval Hill, with a selection of indigenous game, including blesbok, eland and zebra. The Nature Reserve makes Bloemfontein one of the few cities that contains both a zoo and a nature reserve within its boundaries (South Africa-travel.net, 2016).

The Free State Tourism Master Plan 2010/11–2014/15 states that, even though the tourism sector offers a variety of attractions for tourists in the province, it is faced with numerous challenges, including poor communication between the provincial, district and local government tourism structures; poor communication between the public and private sectors;

insufficient technical tourism resources within the existing government structures; the underutilisation of existing provincial nature reserves and resorts; the inadequate pooling of public and private sector financial resources; regulatory frameworks that impede tourism investment, such as rezoning and the strengthening of marketing of the rich provincial tourism asset and service offerings. However, according to Naidoo (2012), such challenges can be

minimised by the development of the Free State Brand and Branding Strategy and the Annual Events Strategy, among others.

Events and festivals held in Bloemfontein

As was already discussed earlier on in the current study, festivals are increasingly being used to promote tourism and to boost the regional economy of areas situated around the world.

Similarly, many South African towns and cities have introduced festivals as a means by which to generate income and promote tourism development (Centre for Development and Support [CDS], 2004), Bloemfontein is no exception in this regard. The Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality is home to a variety of provincial, national and international events that are held annually (Naidoo, 2012). The aforementioned author underscores that such activity is made possible because of the many facilities comprising the supportive infrastructure in the area.

Table 4.1 below lists some of the events and festivals that are hosted annually in the province, along with the infrastructural opportunities that are made available to tourists in the area.

Table 4.1: Events and festivals that are hosted annually in the Free State province

Events Infrastructure opportunities

Beach Party  Free State Stadium

 Goodyear Park

 Athletics track

 Swimming, tennis, netball, basketball, hockey, and badminton facilities instrumental in drawing tourists to the province, or in stimulating sustainable tourism. While the events and festivals have the potential to generate income for Bloemfontein and its surrounding areas, their ‘footprint’ tends generally to be so small that they serve, at best, to circulate capital between different localities in the Free State (CDS, 2004). However, such

arts festivals as the MACUFE event tend to draw over 100 000 visitors, and to stand out as prominent festivals that hold some status beyond the confines of the province (CDS, 2004;

Naidoo, 2012). In this regard, the MACUFE event can be seen to be of great significance to the Free State government, as, through the event, additional economic benefits are injected into the province through the increased influx of tourists, who engage in numerous activities, including in the provision of accommodation services, petrol sales, and food and entertainment establishments in the host area (Naidoo, 2012).