Free State town links into 'African Dream'

THE eastern Free State town of Clarens is bolstering its status as a burgeoning tourism hotspot by linking into the African Dream initiative, championed by SA's ex-president Nelson Mandela as a vehicle for achieving African premiership in the global tourism stakes. African Dream foresees a future network of community-owned Afrikatourism routes stretching continuously from the Cape to Cairo. Each self-sustaining route identifies and showcases its own cultural and natural attractions, harnessing local entrepreneurship and talent to spread employment and prosperity across the continent. The African Dream project currently has 21 routes covering 4 800 km and 28 towns, involving 408 participants and accounting for 830 direct jobs. Its website, www.africandream.org, registers an average of 5 473 hits daily. Key to the initiative are community involvement and ownership, as demonstrated by the 80-plus participants in the Clarens Afrikatourism Route, launched in October 2001. "As an arts and adventure mecca, Clarens has seen phenomenal growth of late," says route spokesperson Ian Bales-Smith. "While statistical details are not readily available, it is conservatively estimated that direct tourism spend has grown some 54% to almost R44m in the past three years." (Adéle Mackenzie)