Eco-tourism project flourishes

THE Aus Tourism Info Centre in the South, a private-public initiative aimed at reducing poverty and strengthening the local tourism industry, is a huge success.

Last year the centre attracted a record number of 13 000 tourist to the sleepy settlement. The Manager of the Info Centre and shareholder, Claudia Baisitse, who was born and grew up at Aus, said the opening of the centre in 2006 put the settlement on the map.The centre offers restaurant and Internet facilities and a nursery where succulent plants, quiver trees and other trees can be bought.The centre also has a kiosk and a curio shop, where handicrafts produced by local people are on sale.Not only do locals earn money through the sales of handicrafts, but local dancers who jiggle their bodies to the beat of traditional instruments for visitors’ enjoyment also earn a few dollars, enabling them to provide for their families, Baisitse said.Baisitse could not be drawn into revealing the annual profits of the centre, but said business was good and craft sales figures were excellent.Baisitse said the locals were trained in craft production by Karin Le Roux.The community-owned centre, built at a cost of millions of dollars funded by the European Union, also focuses on giving information to visitors on the feral horses of the South, deserts and local people’s history.The Aus settlement boasts a number of historical sites and some hotspot Karoo Succulent Plant Ecosystem areas, where wild horses can be viewed.The Manager of the Info Centre and shareholder, Claudia Baisitse, who was born and grew up at Aus, said the opening of the centre in 2006 put the settlement on the map.The centre offers restaurant and Internet facilities and a nursery where succulent plants, quiver trees and other trees can be bought.The centre also has a kiosk and a curio shop, where handicrafts produced by local people are on sale.Not only do locals earn money through the sales of handicrafts, but local dancers who jiggle their bodies to the beat of traditional instruments for visitors’ enjoyment also earn a few dollars, enabling them to provide for their families, Baisitse said.Baisitse could not be drawn into revealing the annual profits of the centre, but said business was good and craft sales figures were excellent.Baisitse said the locals were trained in craft production by Karin Le Roux.The community-owned centre, built at a cost of millions of dollars funded by the European Union, also focuses on giving information to visitors on the feral horses of the South, deserts and local people’s history.The Aus settlement boasts a number of historical sites and some hotspot Karoo Succulent Plant Ecosystem areas, where wild horses can be viewed.