Cango Route
July 25, 2011
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Fast Facts
Statistics
Three hundred thousand people visit the Cango Route annually with an estimated spending power of one hundred and fifty million to two hundred million rand pa.
The ratio of foreign visitors to local visitors is 43% to 57% This ratio has changed a lot since 2008. In 2001 the same ratio has been 53% vs 47%. The reason for this Change can be attributed to the strong rand and the world financial recession.
Our foreign visitors originated from the following countries;
, France 4.5%
, Germany 29%
, Holland 11.1%
, Asia 3.3%
, Scandinavia 5.4%
, U.S. 2.4%
, U.K. 20.9%
, India 4.3%
The tourism industry on the Cango Route is responsible for creating 450 job opportunities an estimated fifty million rand per annum goes on salaries. Of the 450 job opportunities, 75% were created over the last 15 to 20 years.
Historically, this area was dominated by agriculture., but tourism became a very strong second. A lack of official figures makes a judgment as to the ratio of the two industries very difficult. However, because of this “change”in the pattern, most of the community along the Route is involved in tourism in some way or another. It remains a problem however, to get the previously disadvantaged community involved.
Three hundred thousand people visit the Cango Route annually with an estimated spending power of one hundred and fifty million to two hundred million rand pa.
The ratio of foreign visitors to local visitors is 43% to 57% This ratio has changed a lot since 2008. In 2001 the same ratio has been 53% vs 47%. The reason for this Change can be attributed to the strong rand and the world financial recession.
Our foreign visitors originated from the following countries;
, France 4.5%
, Germany 29%
, Holland 11.1%
, Asia 3.3%
, Scandinavia 5.4%
, U.S. 2.4%
, U.K. 20.9%
, India 4.3%
The tourism industry on the Cango Route is responsible for creating 450 job opportunities an estimated fifty million rand per annum goes on salaries. Of the 450 job opportunities, 75% were created over the last 15 to 20 years.
Historically, this area was dominated by agriculture., but tourism became a very strong second. A lack of official figures makes a judgment as to the ratio of the two industries very difficult. However, because of this “change”in the pattern, most of the community along the Route is involved in tourism in some way or another. It remains a problem however, to get the previously disadvantaged community involved.
Your destination online
On line links
The kango Route has had a web-page for quite some time. (www.cangoroute.co.za) The page was revamped recently and therefore we have had very little feedback. This new layout makes provision for Facebook, Twitter and Trip-adviser
Your Brand
Brand / concept
The brand we sell is “ so much variety and so much to do in such a small area”. This concept is generally accepted by the Greater Oudtshoorn tourism and surrounding areas. However we would like the whole of the Route 62 to accept it and thus become one of the landmarks of the R62.
Custodianship
Custodianship
On invitation the final year architectural students from Cape Town stayed three weeks in the Kango valley to make a study of the building style along the Kango Route. They submitted a wonderful and comprehensive report to us.
The outcome of this report was that under the auspices of the Eden District municipality a committee was appointed to make a spatial study of the Kango Route. One of the recommendations was that no new buildings on the route should be allowed to mar the horizon.
Two fascinating stories from the study are;
, The Professor who accompanied the architectural student, told us that the Cape Dutch Style moved northwards from Cape Town while the English style came down from Grahamstown. In the Little Karoo the two building styles met and the compromise between the two styles culminated in the Little Karoo style. There are many examples of this on the Kango Route.
, Eleven years ago, some one bought a piece of land on the Kango Route. A land-surveyor had been instructed to survey the land and do a subdivision. The land belonged to a family of which the great grandfathers last will stated that the male member of the third generation shall inherit the land. The buyer as mentioned above bought a portion of this land.
The surveyor did the necessary but the application was rejected by the surveyor-general and the Master of the Supreme court. The reason? Because the master of the Supreme Court must protect the interest of the unborn son. In theory the father of the second generation can beget a son until the day of his death. How romantic!!
Consequently the buyer had to wait for registration until the old man died.
Top Attractions
Top Attractions.
It is unfair to classify the attractions because every one makes a unique contribution. For the purpose of this document we will mention a few (alphabetically)
, Buffelsdrift a piece of bush veldt in the Karoo.
, Cango Caves Although people say there are many caves all over the world, many visitors tell us “this is the best in the world”
, Cango Ostrich farm excellent and next to the road.
, Cango Wildlife Ranch. One of two wild life activities in South Africa that is rated as very good
, Circular routes as mentioned.
, Karusa. A wine seller with special wine making techniques and wonderful wines.
, Rust en Vrede Waterfall. So wonderful!! Sacred ground.
, Swartberg pass. What an experience! Specially if you keep on driving to Prince Albert.
, Wilgewandel. Family fun. Most of the time it is packed with grandfathers and grandmothers and fathers and mothers and thousands of children. For the kids there is so much to do.
, There are so many other smaller venues to be visited , like restaurants, Olive farming and processing, pottery, yoga centre, hair and medi spa and don’t forget the petit market on a Friday night. In view of the beautiful setting it has become a very popular venue for the locals and tourists to spend their Friday nights.
, Two sporting activities. Kango Route marathon which is a qualifier for the “Two Oceans Marathon”and the “To Hell and Back” cycle tour.
Song & Dance
Song and Dance.
The Little Karoo National Arts Festival, promotes a spirit of song and dance on the Kango route and as we are adjacent to Oudtshoorn, there are usually some KKNK. venues on the route.
One of the successful development- and job creation projects on the route was a cabaret on the history of the ostrich feather. This has been a huge success. The group participated at the KKNK. and got the prime award for the best contribution to cabaret and music theatre (in spite of all the big names) The cabaret ran for eight years and was followed by another cabaret which lasted three years. The venue was a little open air theatre with a seating capacity for one hundred people.
Housekeeping
House Keeping.
The Kango Route is clean, .tidy and well maintained, as are the buildings along the road
Road signage is good. There are however, a few aspects we would like to address but because of regulations and by-laws, we are restricted in this regard.
With the supportive structure of the Route 62, the accessibility of the Cango Route is one of our strong points.
All the main venues on the route, are equipped with excellent wash rooms, information boards and facilities that make the visitors to the Kango Route feel welcome
One of our outstanding strong points is the crime free environment we operate in.
Every where on the route you will find “visitor books” to evaluate the visitors appraisal of our facilities and our products. However, it is our experience that people are inclined to be nice and only give positive and complimentary remarks. The bad things they keep for themselves. We think that a more impersonal medium like the electronic media will give us more feedback Therefore the trip advisor is part of our web-page.
Marketing & Promotion
How good is the destinations products and services for visitors
As emphasised before, the great number, variety and quality of our attractions is one of our unique selling points. Therefore we market this road as a destination where visitors can stay for as long as they wish Ninety per cent plus of our visitors are ether bus groups or self drives and therefore public transport is not in big demand. We would like the taxi industry to become more involved in the tourism industry. We wish to promote the use of taxi transport but our success rate is not high.
Oudtshoorn has a large number of medical doctors and the facilities (hospitals, clinics and ambulances) are outstanding. The well beign of visitors is a big priority and therefore the visitors are very well looked after.
As explained many millions of rand have been invested in tourism over the last twenty five years. This momentum was maintained over the past five years and because of recent investments there is no reason to believe that this is not going to be an ongoing situation.
Although competition is fierce, the formation of the Cango Route tourism society, proves that every body realises that only a concerted effort will bring success and keep us alive in the tourism industry.
All the accommodation products are officially graded.
Promotion of the route.
Although every body realises the importance of marketing, not every body understands the “mechanics” of marketing. Therefore in a public initiative like a tourism society there is not always consensus re the marketing plan.. As management we understand that we must take the message to the point where the potential visitor makes his decisions. Therefore the electronic media becomes more and more important to us and the web-page is going to become our main tool in our marketing outfit. Face book, Twitter and Trip adviser is part of our new electronic tools.
We plan to make new inputs in our “internal” newsletter (for the members) and our “external” newsletter (for the potential consumers of our tourism products).
We also do selective promotions where we use our new flyer and Google adverts.
Our marketing budget is very limited.
Five-year Vision
Enhancing the Route over the next 5 years
Our future on the Kango Route lies in tourism and therefore we must do every thing possible to protect the sustainability of tourism on this route. To our way of thinking it will revolves around the following:
, Discipline, not to destroy the route. Development must be spontaneous but not reckless
, Innovative thinking like creating Kango Route branded products eg.Kango Route cigars (We produce tobacco) and a Cango Route perfume. The planting of Lavender can serve an industrial and a tourism purpose.
, Get the previously disadvantaged community to get involved with tourism. That can only be achieved if the community can be convinced that tourism is a way to improve there quality of life.
Development and empowerment are about the only way to achieve this. The Kango Route Tourism Society will have to take the initiative in this regard. In the past there were several initiatives but because of a lack of funds, most of these fell by the way side. The local tourism community just can not achieve these goals without support of local and provincial governments.
Another precondition is the protection of our natural resources. On an individual basis we do make contributions. However our society is too young and there just has not been time to formulate an official strategy.
Sustainable & Green
Community involvement
Various initiatives were started during the last few years and we are grateful for those who started it and for those who made contributions. We would like to mention the following:
, Scep. It stands for Schoemanshoek Empowerment Program. Schoemshoek is part of the Kango Route. See the web-page in this regard ( www.scep.co.za)
, Various other development and empowerment projects were initiated. With some we succeeded and had wonderful results but some fell by the wayside. The reasons for the failures we could trace back to a lack of money.
, The local Dutch Reformed church runs a puppet show for the children from the previously disadvantaged community. The church also started a biblical garden which is open to the tourist community A lot of research went into this project.
, Because of community demand, a “bicycle lane and foot path” is started and the first phase is under construction.
Blow your trumpet
What awards has our destination received
Since the year 2000 the tourism initiatives on the Kango Route received
, One Industry award (Entrepreneurial)
, Six Tourism award
In conclusion, the Kango route is member of the Greater Oudtshoorn Tourism Society and we support them whenever possible.
The Kango route is also proud to be associated with Route 62 and we understand that the only way that tourists will get to the Kango Route is to travel the R62.
Over a distance of 50 km. The Kango Route offers the visitor more than what many provinces and even countries can ever hope to do. The Cango route is a destination all on its own!!
Where is the cango Route? It meanders along the Cango Valley between Oudtshoorn and the top of the Swartberg. Dare one say that this is one of the Creators masterpieces?.
It also gives access to four beautiful circuler routes:
- via the Swartberg pass to the Hell (Gamkaskloof)
- via Prince Albert, Meiringspoort and De Rust, back to Oudtshoorn.
- along the foot of the Swartberg via the Red hills, back to Oudtshoorn.
- through the foothills of the Swartberg via Oude Muragie and De Rust and back to Oudtshoorn
To illustrate, on the Kango Route there is so much to see and to experience. Including the following:
- Dine at a bush restaurant
- Explore the Kango caves
- Camel rides and a Family restaurant
- Team building and outdoor adventures
- Rust en Vrede waterfall
- Ride an ostrich
- Conference & wedding venues
- Wine tasting
- Olives and Pottery
- Go horse riding
- Mountain bike trails
- Game drives and Elephant Rides
- Crocodile cage diving / Pat a Cheetah
- Become enlightened through Yoga
- Sporting events
- International Hair health and Beauty.
To support all the above exciting activities, there is accommodation that will satisfy all needs, and prices that can suit every one. There are more than 600 beds available at the most scenic venues. On top of the bargain, there are also more than 300 beds available at three youth hostels.
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