A Tourism Development Plan For The South African War Battlefields Route In The Central Karoo

DissertationTourism development is an important imperative in the development of especially rural areas; hence the focus of the National Department of Tourism on developing areas with rich natural, cultural and historical resources. Considering the emphasis on the development of tourism in South Africa, it is important that tourism development plans be established for the different tourism sectors of South Africa. Dark tourism, which involves travelling to places of war and destruction, is experiencing an increase in popularity worldwide. This also applies to South Africa. Battlefield tourism, as a component of dark tourism, offers tourists the opportunity to experience sites or destinations associated with war. The increased interest in the South African War (1899-1902), both nationally and internationally, provides numerous tourism development opportunity for local areas. The most well-known battlefield route in South Africa is the KwaZulu-Natal Battlefields Route. Although there are numerous South African battlefield sites in the Karoo, no attempts have been made to develop a comprehensive battlefield route. Thus, the main objective of the investigation was to construct a tourism development plan for the South African War Battlefields Route in the central Karoo. The tourism development plan was informed by an empirical study conducted amongst various stakeholders on the proposed route. The main findings indicate a need for the development of the route and the establishment of a South African War Battlefields Route Destination Marketing Organisation (DMO)

Separation From and Reconstruction of Home: A Study of Immigrant Expressive Therapists

This study examined the subject of home—specifically separating from and reconstructing home—to better understand the concept of home and its role in the immigration experience and the effectiveness of expressive arts therapy as a treatment method for immigrants. The literature supported that leaving one’s home and recreating another are major parts of the immigration experience. Previous studies found that these experiences can raise fundamental questions about where and what home is (e.g., Despres, 1991; Mallet, 2004; Malone & Dooley, 2006; Philip & Ho, 2010; Wiles, 2008). This study used qualitative methods to explore the research question: How do immigrant expressive therapists conceive separation from and reconstruction of home for themselves and for their clients? Ten expressive therapist immigrants participated in two semi-structured interviews for the study. The face-to-face interview included artistic exploration of the research subject. Participants could choose any art form and sometimes chose to work with more than one art modality. They were encouraged to complete free-writing following each art-making. A follow-up telephone interview provided an opportunity to review their interview transcriptions and art-making and share thoughts and reflections. The researcher used art-based methods to conduct this study and analyze data. As part of the analysis, the researcher created a poetic text that combined metaphors, quotes, and experiences the participants shared and from this text, a film that extended understanding of the interview content as a whole. Three themes emerged: (1) belonging-not belonging, (2) home here-home there; home nowhere-home everywhere, and (3) old me-new me (evolution of identity), and the art connected the themes. Art provided an additional language that reinforced dualities participants sometimes felt, contributed to experiences of reconstructing home, and provided a way to see and express internal experiences in an external form. The participants’ own understanding of what makes them feel “at home” furthered understanding of their work with therapy clients through the arts. The study provides valuable understanding of immigrants’ emotional and psychological experiences and the effectiveness of using the arts in the therapeutic process, and thus furthers understanding of the role and function of home in the mental health field

ASSESSING THE MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT EFFECTIVENESS OF THE FREE STATE SECTION OF THE MALOTI DRAKENSBERG ROUTE

Published ThesisTourism has the potential to have a positive impact on economic growth and development. Tourism should also benefit small towns and rural areas, hence the increased emphasis on the development of tourism routes. The concept of ‘route tourism’ refers to an initiative designed to link together a group of tourism activities and attractions under a unified theme and to promote local tourism (Rogerson, 2007:50). Most tourism routes are managed by forums that are responsible for managing and marketing the route. South Africa has a number of prominent tourism routes of which the Maloti Drakensberg Route (MDR) is among the longest and most well-known. As a substantial section of the MDR runs through the Free State Province (stretching from Harrismith to Zastron), much-needed tourists are being brought to smaller Free State towns. The aim of this investigation was to assess the marketing and management effectiveness of the Maloti Drakensberg Route Forum (MDRF), specifically for the Free State section of the MDR. This study incorporated both a qualitative and a quantitative research approach. A questionnaire was administered to 51 tourists and 27 product owners on the Free State section of the MDR. The findings indicated that the overall marketing and management activities of the MDRF were not effective. One of the main shortcomings was effective communication between the MDRF and the product owners, which resulted in many management- and marketing-related frustrations. Other issues raised by both product owners and tourists included inadequate infrastructure such as roads, signage and rest stops along the MDR

Evolutionary structural optimisation as a robust and reliable design tool

Evolutionary Structural Optimisation (ESO) is a relatively new design tool used to improve and optimise the design of structures. It is a heuristic method where a few elements of an initial design domain of finite elements are iteratively removed. Such a process is carried out repeatedly until an optimum design is achieved, or until a desired given area or volume is reached. There have been many contributions to the ESO procedure since its conception back in 1992. For example, a provision known as Bi-Directional ESO (BESO) has now been incorporated where elements may not only be removed, but added. Also, rather than deal with elements where they are either present or not, the designer now has the option to change the element's properties in a progressive fashion. This includes the modulus of elasticity, the density of the material and the thickness of plate elements, and is known as Morphing ESO. In addition to the algorithmic aspects of ESO, a large preference exists to optimise a structure based on a selection of criteria for various physical processes. Such examples include stress minimisation, buckling and electromagnetic problems. In a changing world that demands the enhancement of design tools and methods that incorporate optimisation, the development of methods like ESO to accommodate this demand is called for. It is this demand that this thesis seeks to satisfy. This thesis develops and examines the concept of multicriteria optimisation in the ESO process. Taking into account the optimisation of numerous criteria simultaneously, Multicriteria ESO allows a more realistic and accurate approach to optimising a model in any given environment. Two traditional methods � the Weighting method and the Global Criterion (Min-max) method have been used, as has two unconventional methods � the Logical AND method and the Logical OR method. These four methods have been examined for different combinations of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) solver types. This has included linear static FEA solver, the natural frequency FEA solver and a recently developed inertia FE solver. Mean compliance minimisation (stiffness maximisation), frequency maximisation and moment of inertia maximisation are an assortment of the specific objectives incorporated. Such a study has provided a platform to use many other criteria and multiple combinations of criteria. In extending the features of ESO, and hence its practical capabilities as a design tool, the creation of another optimisation method based on ESO has been ushered in. This method concerns the betterment of the bending and rotational performance of cross-sectional areas and is known as Evolutionary Moment of Inertia Optimisation (EMIO). Again founded upon a domain of finite elements, the EMIO method seeks to either minimise or maximise the rectangular, product and polar moments of inertia. This dissertation then goes one step further to include the EMIO method as one of the objectives considered in Multicriteria ESO as mentioned above. Most structures, (if not all) in reality are not homogenous as assumed by many structural optimisation methods. In fact, many structures (particularly biological ones) are composed of different materials or the same material with continually varying properties. In this thesis, a new feature called Constant Width Layer (CWL) ESO is developed, in which a distinct layer of material evolves with the developing boundary. During the optimisation process, the width of the outer surrounding material remains constant and is defined by the user. Finally, in verifying its usefulness to the practical aspect of design, the work presented herein applies the CWL ESO and the ESO methods to two dental case studies. They concern the optimisation of an anterior (front of the mouth) ceramic dental bridge and the optimisation of a posterior (back of the mouth) ceramic dental bridge. Comparisons of these optimised models are then made to those developed by other methods

DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE AND SERVICE DELIVERY EXPECTATIONS OF VISITORS TO THE BLOEMFONTEIN VRYFEES

Published ArticleThe contribution of tourism to the development of local regions is prolific, as it creates jobs and stimulates the economy (Lopez-Bonilla & Sanz-Altmira 2010; O'Sullivan & Jackson 2010; Saayman & Rossow 2011; Visser 2005). Events are an important motivation for tourists to travel. In this sense, there are three types of events: business events, sport events and festivals (Getz 2007). Festivals and festival tourism is a booming form of event tourism and the importance of festivals are recognized in both national and international spheres (Yang, Gu & Cen 2011). With this in mind, it is imperative that festival organisers have adequate information pertaining to the demographics and service delivery expectations of festival goers. The data for this investigation was collected during the 2013 Bloemfontien Vryfees and the findings report on the demographic composition of the festival goers and their service delivery expectations

MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT EFFECTIVENESS OF FREE STATE SECTION OF MALOTI DRAKENSBERG ROUTE

Published ArtcleTourism has a positive impact on economic growth and development, especially for small towns and rural areas. This is especially applicable to the Free State Province that has numerous economic challenges, including the highest unemployment rate in South Africa. One way of attracting tourists to areas they might not normally visit, is through the development of tourism routes. In South African, the Maloti Drakensberg Route (MDR) is one of the longest tourism routes and a substantial section of the route runs through the Free State Province (Harrismith to Zastron). Tourism routes are usually managed by forums that need to oversee the effective management of routes. In this regard, the MDR is managed by the Maloti Drakensberg Route Forum (MDRF). Due to the importance of attracting tourists, the aim of this investigation was to assess the marketing and management effectiveness of the Free State section of the MDR. The research approach was both qualitative and quantitative and product owners and tourists were included in the data collection. The findings indicate that the route is not effectively managed, with serious ramifications for economic development and sustainability