THE private sector, with strong emphasis on the empowerment component, has been given the official go-ahead to develop 12 small, upmarket lodges - maximum 40 beds - in some of the South African National Parks' (SANP) properties.
This announcement was made yesterday by Mavuso Msimang, chief executive officer of the SANP, at a press conference held at SANP's headquarters at the Groenkloof Nature Reserve in Pretoria.
This forms part of the first phase of SANP's commercialisation programme which was initiated in an effort to free up resources for conservation and to draw more visitors - the initial projection is 600 visitors - to its respective parks.
"Involving the private sector in our tourism operations will not only allow us to increase efficiency and delivery of better customer service, it will also allow us to concentrate on what we do best, conservation," said Msimang.
Four small existing bush lodges in the Kruger National Park (KNP) - Jakkalsbessie, Jock of the Bushveld, Boulders and Nwanetsi - as well as five sites, Letaba, Mluwati, Mutlumuvi, Lwakahle and Mpanamana, have been identified for development.
Furthermore, two sites at the Addo Elephant National Park in the Eastern Cape - the Kabouga Concession site and another site to be identified at a later stage - have been earmarked for development.
The Brandwag Hotel at the Free State's Golden Gate National Park and a site at the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park (which forms part of the transfrontier park deal with Botswana) have also been identified as part of Phase One.
Msimang says that Phase Two - which could be announced within two months - will involve concession contracts for SANP's restaurants and retail shops.
The implementation process for Phase One could take up to five months and involves two stages, reported SANP's Peter Fernhead, who will be heading up the commercialisation programme, in consultation with US-based International Finance Corporation (IFC) - the private sector division of the World Bank.
Once consultation workshops have been held and tenders have been invited, the first step of pre-qualification bids will be launched on July 7, with the list of pre-qualification bidders announced a month later on August 7, explained Fernhead.
"The successful tenders should be announced by late September, early October."
IFC representative, Brian Samuel, added that the successful bidders will sign a concession contract with SANP which allows them to manage the lodges as they see fit. However, certain regulations stipulated in the contract - such as conservation management principles - will have to be strictly adhered to.
"We reserve the right to cancel the contract if it is found that these principles are not adhered to."
Samuel said that the concession contract period will be 15 years, whereafter the developers will be given the option of re-tendering for another stipulated period.
The commercialisation programme of these 12 sites represents approximately 1% of SANP's accommodation facilities.
(Adele Mackenzie)
