Nokrismesi Gamakhulu from Qunu has a number of unused rooms in her home and now they can start making some money for her.
Gamakhulu is one of 25 people who received a certificate from the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency qualifying their house as tourism accommodation.
Gamakhulu has two children and the family all depend on her husband’s salary. “I never thought I could be making money off these rooms, yet when this campaign was introduced I kicked myself for not thinking about it myself.
“We always think tourism is for other people and that no one wants to sleep over in the village, but there are tourists who want an authentic experience,” said Gamakhulu.
She said people should not think a home stay is like going to a hotel or even a guesthouse in the village.
“There is nothing fancy about staying in a rural home. But you do get an opportunity to see first-hand what life in the village is like. And we might not believe this but there are many people who are eager to experience rural living,” she said.
Gamakhulu said being located next to Nelson Mandela’s house had perks because her immediate market is tourists coming to Madiba’s birthplace.
“When the ECPTA brought this idea, I had already started a small business preparing authentic traditional cuisine for those tourists. For the past year I have been preparing lunch meals that consist of food that they would not normally eat where they come from.
“Many of those are from outside the country – some from as far as Australia, and often they had enquired about accommodation. Well, now we have it,” she said. “Now is the time for us to also benefit from tourism and Madiba’s name.”She has not had any visitors sleep over yet but Gamakhulu said part of training would help them price the rooms accordingly.
Dr Nomvuselelo Songelwa from ECPTA said the trainees already had basic knowledge of keeping a house clean, how to treat visitors and how to clean cooking utensils. The training was to teach them things like the rules and guidelines that govern the tourism industry.
“Rural and cultural tourism are a big product with great potential because of the cultural diversity. If packaged and sold well, rural tourism has potential to be big because for once we will be doing things that are not done in the West.”
Besides the training, Songelwa said they had provided the owners with signage and uniforms as well as access to the market...