CapeInfo | June 2018 | The Wilderness is Special

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Hello One Wilderness you won't want to be delivered from With a network of lakes, rivers and dramatic hills set between the Indian Ocean and the Outeniqua Mountains, Wilderness is a unique destination. Often overlooked in favour of the nearby and much larger George and Knysna/Plettenberg Bay on either side, it is a destination in its own right. So don't just drive through... stop and explore, as we did.
Photo: Social media maven and travel blogger, Rose Greyling Bilbrough, who was our superlative guide to the area. Yes she flies; no, I didn't. Oh, that's the sublime Wilderness Beach below.
Wilderness co-exists with the Garden Route National Park which largely determines land uses yet creates significant opportunities. There's been very little "free-for-all development", and what development there has been is largely hidden by lush vegetation. It's a place to just relax or participate in a variety of activities. And the village centre is a gem, whether for dining or sitting at a pavement cafe. Read more: Travels with Beezus - CapeInfo's visit to Wilderness Accommodation in Wilderness - if you've stayed at any of these establishments, please leave a review! Walks and trails in the Wilderness area
Tourism's next big challenge We survived the Ebola panic; we survived the Visa fiasco (and hopefully South Africa will still catch up with Ethopia in making visas easily obtainable). Now government is taking steps which threaten to damage tourism from the inside, showing a complete lack of understanding for how the industry works.
Plett Tourism - the most successful tourism marketing agency on the Garden Route - is being sidelined by the Municipality. It's future is unclear as the Municipality plans to take over tourism.
Click here to read what Bitou Municipality proposes. Plett Tourism states: "It contains many clauses with which we disagree, and is silent on many critical issues which need to be covered. Mostly, we oppose the principle of the destination marketing function being under municipal control, and the apparent termination of Plett Tourism’s role, with no reasons being given nor with any regard to what has been achieved over the past five years and to the ongoing work in progress." Provincial tourism minister Alan Winde disagrees with Bitou Municipality's moves and supports the partnership models. And he went on to say, "It’s a big issue and the Auditor General is not helping. The AG wants tourism funding to be put out on tender and not transferred to the Tourism Board/private sector cluster bodies." Welcome to tenderpreneur-land! Tourism is too important to be left to municipal politicians, click here to read Cradock's experience. Read our story here.

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