The boom in tourism has brought much-needed foreign revenue into South Africa, but it has also created a need for specialist consultants in the field, to assist in the development of various tourist programmes both for the public and private sectors.

UWP Tourism, a division of UWP Consulting, offers this specialist knowledge, says director Gerhard du Toit. He says the team available at UWP comprises a group of professionals in tourism, development planning and engineering.

“Tourism is multidisciplinary, needing the support of specialists from diverse backgrounds and experience in the commercial, social, environmental and engineering disciplines,” says Du Toit.

Services offered by the company include strategic tourism planning and marketing, feasibility studies, capacity-building programmes, facilitation and project management, as well as communication strategies and market research. The team can also conduct tourism planning frameworks, sustainable ecotourism development, the development of tourism infrastructure, community tourism projects, the distribution of tourism management and transportation planning within a tourism framework, reports Du Toit. He says project management methods and principles are applied in all projects. To date, projects that various team members have been involved in are tourism assessments and analysis for various provinces, proposed bus routes for tour operators, as well as assessment of the tourism potential in various Saudi Arabian market segments for South Africa.

“We approach all our projects on a partnership basis with our clients. The entire process is transparent and based on a model that allows clients to evaluate the progress of projects, thereby ensuring that they are getting value for money,” says Du Toit.

To subscribe to Engineering News's print magazine email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or buy now.