User:DiscipleOfKnowledge/Sandbox/Tourist attractions in South Africa

South Africa's main tourist attractions are its natural edifices. (South Africa's history is also of interest). Prior to 1990? a boycott had been imposed on South Africa prohibiting tourism to the country but which was lifted following negotiations to end Apartheid.

Paleo-tourism - areas of archaeological and scientific interest (Cradle of Mankind, Vredefort Dome). Eco-tourism - megadiversity and its interest to biologists and other experts. Sports tourism. Hunting tourism - how it is argued to improve conservation of wildlife.

Tourist attractions
This is a tentative list that I am working on. I may resize the images to 100px if the table becomes to exhaustive. I am still trying to find attraction-location specific statistics to complete this table. Co-ord data for locations forthcoming.

Sport
Since hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup sports tourism to South Africa has been increasing.

Ecotourism


South Africa has been identified as the third most megadiverse country in the world by Conservation International in 1998 and has therefore become a place of interest with respect to ecology, environmental conservation and biological field research. The Kruger National Park remains the most visited national park in South Africa and is well known for its fauna and flora.

The Cape Floristic Region, the smallest of the six recognised floral kingdoms of the world, is an area of extraordinarily high diversity and endemism, and is home to more than 9 000 vascular plant species, of which 69 % are endemic. It well known for Fynbos, a family of plants notable for their adaptivity to fire and its use thereof as a reproductive strategy. http://www.southafrica.net/sat/content/en/us/us-full-article?oid=5459&sn=Detail&pid=318962&Cape-Floristic-Region

Hunting tourism
Hunting in South Africa is regulated by Department of Nature Conservation and the Professional Hunters Association of South Africa ((PHASA) and has become especially popular for European tourists.

Criticism
Note: This section will probably be moved to Tourism in South Africa since it has little relevance to tourist attractions.

The promotion of hunting tourism in South Africa has been subject to criticism by animal rights activists and environmental conversationalists. However the PHASA and professional hunters who operate animal reserves have countered that ethical hunting has become an essential part of conservation, since revenues generated from hunting are needed to manage animals in a sustainable manner and because reserves cannot allow their animal populations to exceed the carrying capacity of their habitats without resulting in population decline and habitat destruction. Further, they have argued that hunting has formed an important economic sector in South Africa providing employment and food to local populations.

Specific areas

 * Cape Town