Author Archives: Lucy Matthews

About Lucy Matthews

Lucy has MA's from King's College London in Tourism, Environment & Development and Terrorism, Security & Society, and has managed the World Travel & Tourism Council's Tourism for Tomorrow Awards.

Freewheeling Travel Unlocks South Africa

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[Above, a trail into the Drakensburg. All photos by Lucy Matthews.]

Advantage: Independent Traveler

As I paid for South African Lavender soap at the hotel gift shop checkout counter, the local university student who worked there part-time asked me if I had been to the Litchi Orchard. “My friends and I love to go,” she said, “It has good local musicians and fresh, healthy restaurants. Not a lot of tourists know about it.” Because my friend Elspeth and I were traveling independently in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, we had no set schedule that day and were able to take advantage of this local tip to visit a hidden gem off the beaten track of a package group tour.

On my first night at the hotel—about thirty miles outside KwaZulu-Natal’s largest city of Durban—the waiter told my friend and me that he had not often seen Americans in the region that weren’t on a package group tour. I was surprised.

I have always loved traveling on my own or with a friend and strongly believe that independent travel helps the visitor to immerse more fully in the distinct surroundings of a destination, to engage in more cross-cultural exchanges, and to discover places off the worn tourist track like the Litchi Orchard.

Litchi Orchard, KwaZulu-Natal.

Litchi Orchard, KwaZulu-Natal.

Why cater to independent travelers?

By visiting small towns, buying crafts, staying in local lodgings and more, independent tourists can contribute to local economies, engage with local communities, and have unforgettable experiences in  places that group tours miss.

From the practitioner perspective, destinations can encourage more independent travel by providing easy access to resources for doing so—regional transportation options, day-tour operators, off-the-beaten track highlights, and information on thematic tourism routes. Following routes for independent travel requires advance planning, and that means tourists will begin learning about the area before they arrive and therefore be more thoughtful participants in the local culture. They will also be smaller in number than at more popular tourist spots. The routes therefore can bring in economic and cross-cultural benefits while not overwhelming small towns.

Most important for healthy destination tourism, independent travel can result in great stories—stories that can entice more travelers to visit. Read on for my own examples.

My Choice: KwaZulu-Natal

When I told friends I was going to visit South Africa, most assumed I would be heading to the popular international destination of Capetown. Someday I definitely want to visit Capetown as well, however my friend and I were drawn to explore a part of the nation less familiar to American tourists and located on the other side of the country, on the east coast by the Indian Ocean—beautiful KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), a land of mountains, beaches, and rolling sugarcane fields.

KwaZulu-Natal is a fascinating place full of a variety of influences. Even the name of the province bespeaks its inherent multiculturalism. KwaZulu means of the Zulus and Natal means Christmas in Portuguese, a reference to the visit here by Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama around Christmastime in 1497. You would have to stay for a while to truly understand the province, it is such a mix of environments, cultures, languages, and histories.

Eucalyptus in the Durban Botanical Gardens.

Eucalyptus in the Durban Botanical Gardens.

Our hotel was only 1 to 3 hours from many of the attractions of the province. Since we were traveling independently, we could book several private half- and full-day tours with guides to take us to some of the exciting destinations of KZN.

During our extended drives—to the city of Durban and to two diverse World Heritage Sites, the Drakensberg Mountains and the St. Lucia wetlands—we were able to have long conversations with our KZN guides. One was a South African of British heritage who told us about his experience growing up in Zululand. Another guide was Zulu and told us about his traditional upbringing and how he balances tradition with modern South African life. Since it was only my friend and me in the car, all our questions were answered and we had an excellent opportunity to really dig deep on issues we were interested in. As we passed traditional Zulu round houses, cane fields, gum trees, vendors selling pineapples by the side of the road, students selling lychees at tolls, rolling hills, and distant mountains, our guides would tell us about the countryside, about current South African politics, about navigating the many languages spoken in the country and in the region, and many other elements of South African and KZN history and current life.

Better Stories, Richer Memories

Because we traveled independently, we had the opportunity to meet many locals. On one of our private tours, our guide drove us to the Drakensberg Mountains. There we joined the hourly tour of the Khoi San cave paintings at Giants Rock. We were the only Americans. Everyone else on the cave tour was Zulu, and in fact the first portion of the tour was conducted entirely in Zulu. Claiming that it takes much longer to say something in Zulu than in English, our Zulu guide who had brought us from the hotel then paraphrased the cave tour guide’s fifteen-minute introductory speech in a few sentences.

One of the Zulu men on our tour asked to see what U.S. currency looks like, and a Zulu woman asked to take a picture with us. Seeming this exotic to locals made me truly feel that I was somewhere that Americans don’t often go. The experience of being the only two Americans for miles around would be impossible on a package, pre-scheduled group tour.

If I had traveled with a tour group I believe I would not have had as many cross-cultural interactions with South Africans, and may not have been as observant to my surroundings. Traveling independently also meant I was able to construct my own schedule based on what activities and sites interested me, and to spend some days exploring off-the-tourist-track places that were recommended by locals. Traveling independently in KwaZulu-Natal was certainly feasible with enough advance planning. I highly recommend it.

Hippos in the St. Lucia Wetlands, a World Heritage site.

Hippos in the Greater St. Lucia Wetlands Park, a World Heritage site.

I regret that I did not have time to explore the Midlands Meander during my trip to KZN. Tourists can access resources at midlandsmeander.co.za to plan their trips based on their chosen activities and can explore the route at their own pace.

With a bit of careful planning from both the tourist and the practitioner, independent travel can be easy, creating lasting memories for the tourist, economic benefits for locals, and important connections between tourist and place.

Cuban Tourism at a Crossroads

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[Above: Rolling Americana Survives in Today’s Cuba. Photo: Lucy Matthews.]

Relations between the United States and Cuba are changing, and have been since late 2014 when President Obama began normalizing ties.

While tourism itself is still banned, United States citizens can legally visit Cuba under twelve travel categories. My May 2016 group trip fell under the “educational activities” umbrella, and was organized by the Center for Responsible Travel (CREST) and Cuba Educational Travel (CET).

Warming relations between the US and Cuba, including expanded ways for Americans to visit, have led to a huge increase in travel to the country. It is not uncommon to hear Americans saying they want to visit Cuba “before it changes” and citizens of other countries scrambling to visit “before the Americans ruin it.”

Tourism has been a part of the Cuban economy for some time, however with large increases in US visitation, it is likely to change. With improved relations with the island nation, American tourism companies are looking for ways to put down roots in Cuba. Our visit coincided with the first journey of an American cruise ship (Carnival Fathom) coming to the island nation in more than 50 years.

At one point, we had a fascinating tourism lecture from economist Rafael Betancourt. Among many thought-provoking components of the discussion, he mentioned that due to a current lack of sufficient levels of tourism infrastructure in port cities, increases in cruise ships to the island are considered beneficial (with a floating hotel, increased visitor numbers don’t have to mean an accommodation overflow).

As visitation to Cuba increases, there are some who are concerned about what form this tourism might take.

Hotel Moka Las Terrazas complements the landscape. Photo: Lucy Matthews.

Hotel Moka Las Terrazas complements the landscape. Photo: Lucy Matthews.

A positive example of ecotourism was Hotel Moka Las Terrazas, where we stayed in the mountains our first night in the country. It is an ecolodge created to exist in harmony with nature and to bring visitors to the small community of Las Terrazas, where inhabitants aim to live in balance with the environment. To achieve this aim, many residents help with reforestation projects. The community benefits from Hotel Moka because tourists visit the local shops, restaurants, and cafés.

Another form of tourism held up as a positive example was that of “casas particulares.” Similar to Airbnb, casas particulares are often structured as visitor housing in a separate section of the owner’s permanent residence. We spent a few days in casas particulares in the town of Viñales. This was a great way to spend more time with local Cubans, to eat home-cooked meals and to experience an approximation of day-to-day Cuban life.

A “casa particular” in Viñales. Photo: Lucy Mathhews.

A “casa particular” in Viñales, Cuba. Photo: Lucy Matthews.

The task ahead for Cuba is to figure out how tourism can benefit rather than overwhelm or commercialize the island nation. From what we heard on the trip, there does seem to be interest in managing Cuban tourism in order to maintain what makes Cuba “Cuban,” however there didn’t seem to be a high level of coordination around this aim.

What Cuba I will see if I return in 10 years? Today’s visitors who say they want to see the island before it changes—likely picturing those elements of island life that are remnants of the 1950’s—are probably right: The island will change. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing. If change is managed properly, tourism can do what it does best: highlight a distinctly Cuban sense of place and be an economic driver and catalyst for cross-cultural exchange. If left to a mass-touristic model, the Cuba I visit in 10 years may more closely resemble Miami than Havana.

America’s Unheralded Gift to Tourism Will Soon Turn 50

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[Above: Historic balconies of the New Orleans French Quarter survive modern development pressures. Photo: Jonathan Tourtellot]

So It’s Time to Herald It: The Preservation Act

Picture what the French Quarter of New Orleans would be like with an expressway slashing along the banks of the Mississippi right next to it. Imagine the impact on this popular tourist destination. Yet that’s what some Louisiana state and city planners proposed in the 1940s. The idea of a Riverview Expressway next to the Quarter remained a contentious topic for many years, a direct threat to some of the city’s iconic buildings and its most famous neighborhood.

It didn’t happen, in large part thanks to the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), which marks its 50th anniversary next year. Drafted with the help of the National Park Service and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and signed by President Lyndon Johnson on October 15, 1966, the Act created the National Register for Historic Places, established State Historic Preservation Offices, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), Section 106 reviews, and more.

President Johnson signed the NHPA into law on October 15, 1966

President Johnson signed the NHPA into law on October 15, 1966

The Act’s Section 106 process, which requires that Federal funding of a project initiate consultation with “interested parties,” gave Riverfront Expressway opponents a platform to stop plans for constructing the highway. The ACHP investigated and recommended against it. In the late 1960’s, the Federal Department of Transportation subsequently reversed funding approval for the road, and the proposal died.

Over the past 49 years, the Act has enabled revitalization and transformation of communities from coast to coast by establishing the legal framework and incentives to preserve historic buildings, landscapes, and archaeological sites, most often generating benefits for and from tourism. Focused on 2016, the Preservation50 program is the United States’ collaborative four-year effort to celebrate and leverage the NHPA’s first five decades and to assure a vibrant future for historic preservation in America.

Take the Mount Vernon Historic District of Baltimore, Maryland for example. Comprising 40 blocks in the center of the city, the district was originally a trendy, desirable, architecturally diverse neighborhood. By the 1960s, though, it was at risk of urban decay or demolition.

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P50-2Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and with many of its historic buildings now repurposed, Mount Vernon has found new life as a Baltimore cultural center. Visitors can easily reach the neighborhood by public transportation and tour the Walter’s Art Museum, one of the city’s best-known attractions, as well as various galleries and one of the earliest monuments to George Washington.

U.S. overseas territories as well have reaped benefits from the Act. In Puerto Rico, home to a number of Spanish forts dating from the 16th century, many of the buildings making up the San Juan National Historic Site—inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1983—had been compromised by natural disasters and poor reconstruction efforts. Based on a National Park Service plan, the sites went through a Section 106 review, and now the preservation techniques being used on the walls are held up as a worldwide model for using modern technologies to preserve historic resources. Restoration of the historic forts ensures that the sites will continue to bring tourists to Puerto Rico well into the future.

As 2016 approaches, history lovers are gearing up for a slate of programs and initiatives  including contests, roundtable discussions, commemorative events, and more, all aimed at revealing the value that historic preservation delivers to the American people.

Join the Preservation50 Celebration!

Since 1966, the NHPA has generated widespread social and economic impacts. It stabilizes neighborhoods and downtowns, contributes to public education, attracts investment, creates jobs, generates tax revenues, supports small business and affordable housing, and powers America’s lucrative heritage tourism industry. Under the Act, publicly owned historic properties from community landmarks to national parks support community pride and identity, foster a variety of public uses, and contribute to local and regional economies through their operation and maintenance.

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Now Preservation50 is gearing up to engage the public with a vibrant agenda of programs in 2016 to celebrate the Act’s 50th anniversary, from public events to children’s coloring books to a Leadership Development Platform. The goal is to grow a community that will lead preservation in the next 50 years.

Please join us! Become a Working Group volunteer, donate, plan a local anniversary celebration, and engage with us on social media. Visit www.preservation50.org and connect on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.