Thathe Vondo: is this a missed opportunity for Adventure Tourism development?

Abstract

Adventure tourism, adventure recreation and outdoor recreation, the industries interrelated, are one of the promising industries across the world with their exponential growth rate, particularly in Africa, where the fame of adventure is rapidly increasing to prove the success of this industry. Many people seek to visit distant rural or wilderness areas to participate in adventure activities. The purpose of their participation is to learn how to survive in a natural area through engaging in activities that are physically, emotionally and psychologically challenging. This study explored a possible missed opportunity for adventure tourism development in the forest of the Venda tribe of South Africa called Thathe Vondo. The study constructed a comparison between Thathe Vondo and a few of the successful adventure destinations to view the similarities which can determine whether Thathe Vondo is a missed opportunity for adventure tourism development. This was done using a content analysis approach where literature was accumulated to compare Thathe Vondo and other destinations. The findings presented the similarities with regards to the features Thathe Vondo (possible missed opportunity for tourism development) has, compared to that of Dullstroom, Clarens, Tsitsikamma and Isle of Skye (developed adventure destinations), which according to the comparisons, Thathe Vondo is a possible missed opportunity for adventure tourism development.

Keywords

• adventure activities
• adventure recreation
• adventure tourism
• outdoor recreation
• thathe vondo
• south africa