Welcome to the Zulu Kingdom, KwaZulu-Natal

HowTo Develop an Adventure Tourism Business in KZN

Note that legislation now requires all businesses providing services to tourists be registered with the provincial tourism authority, Tourism KwaZulu-Natal. Kindly contact TKZN if you are not sure whether registration is mandatory or optional for your business, as well as information on how to register.

Tourism KwaZulu-Natal (TKZN) is promoting the entry of new enterprises into the tourism market. This brochure has been produced as one of a series of How To Brochures to guide people wishing to establish their own tourism enterprises. The brochures target particular fields of business, this one being Adventure Tourism, and are designed to provide basic information useful for developing your own business venture or developing adventure activities as part of an existing service.

The other brochures in the series are:- How to Establish a:- Restaurant, Eating House or Tavern, Bed and Breakfast Establishment or Guesthouse Cultural Village, Hunting and Game Farm, Community Tourism Office Tour Operating Business; Tour Guiding Service; Travel Agency; Business Plan; Tourism Road and Outdoor Signage in KZN Arts and Crafts Centre

Permission to copy material contained in this brochure rests with TKZN. Material may be used with an acknowledgement. If you wish to comment on the content or layout of the brochure, please direct your comments to TKZN.

Tourism KwaZulu-Natal (TKZN) P.O.Box 2516 Durban, 4000 031-366 7500 kznta@iafrica.com

DEFINITION

WHAT IS ADVENTURE TOURISM?

Nationally and internationally there are a great many terms that are used to include adventure tourism. Some of these terms are: adventure travel; ecotourism; nature tourism; outdoor tourism; special interest travel; soft adventure; hard adventure; spiritual tourism; cultural tourism; extreme sports; etc.

However, for the purposes of this brochure we rather like the definition for Adventure Tourism used by the Canadian Tourism Commission and adapted as follows: an outdoor leisure activity that generally takes place in an unusual, exotic, remote or wilderness setting, (sometimes) involving some form of unconventional means of transportation and tending to be associated with low or high levels of physical activity. The activity may entail some element of risk. (http://www.canadatourism.com).

An Adventure Tourism business arranges a single adventure or a combination of adventure pursuits for paying tourists on scheduled or customized itineraries. The international trend is toward industry specialization. This means that your Adventure Tourism business may focus on the adventure guiding and hosting aspects of the business and rely upon other specialist firms for transport, making of travel arrangements and other aspects of tour packaging. It is probably more cost effective for your Adventure Business to concentrate on the aspects that you are good at (and have a specialised interest in) than to try to take on all the various responsibilities. Thus, you may provide the guiding, hire of specialist equipment and meeting of safety regulations leaving the making of arrangements for accommodation and transport to other firms. The Adventure Tourism business will send qualified guides/adventure pursuit instructors to accompany the tourists.

Unlike other tourism businesses the Adventure Tourism firm will rely heavily on the specialist interest, experience and skills of one or more members. For example, if you have not participated in adventure sports yourself and do not have a passionate interest in and commitment to a specific activity it is unlikely that you will wish to engage in establishing a dedicated adventure tourism business. In other words the specialist understanding required for adventure activities is a critical area of experience for a would-be adventure tourism entrepreneur.

If you are intending to add adventure activities to a range of pursuits your existing tourism business already offers you will wish to be aware of the content of this brochure picking out what is relevant for you and what is intended for dedicated adventure tourism enterprises or new businesses.

LEGAL REQUIREMENTS

1. Some adventure activities are, by their very nature, dangerous and can cause injury, and even loss of life, to persons and damage to property. Any enterprise providing access to such activities must protect themselves against claims for loss or damage caused to persons who partake in the activities provided by the enterprise.

2. The first line of protection is to ensure that you and your staff are properly trained and equipped to provide supervision and guidance to participants in the activities provided and that your equipment which such participants use is in excellent condition at all times. You should also ensure that all participants are properly trained in the use of your equipment and in the rules of the activity that they will engage in. Needless to say, these rules should be designed to make the activity as safe as possible.

3. Claims for loss or damages are based mostly on negligence and you can guard against that by being vigilant at all times.

4. Before launching any adventure activity, you should ascertain what specific legal requirements pertaining to the sport or activity being pursued must be complied with. That can be obtained from the relevant sport or activity coordinating body. A list of some of the co-ordinating or controlling bodies is listed in the table at the end of the brochure.

5. Be sure that you comply in all respects with those requirements and the law. MORE IMPORTANTLY, YOU MUST MAKE SURE THAT EVERY PARTICIPANT IN YOUR ADVENTURE ACTIVITIES COMPLIES IN ALL RESPECTS WITH THE LAW!

6. You should consult a reputable insurer or broker on your exposure to risk and, in particular, ensure that you have adequate public liability insurance to cover any claims that may arise. Be guided by your insurer or broker in how you structure your business to ensure that you minimize your exposure to risk to the maximum extent. The Southern Africa Tourism Services Association suggest that if you convey clients in a vehicle public liability insurance cover of between R5 million R10 million is essential. The actual amount will depend on a variety of circumstances including the number of clients transported at one time.

7. You should also consult an attorney to advise you on steps that you should take to avoid liability for loss or damages arising as a result of people participating in your adventure activities. This would include:

a. requiring participants to declare in writing that: i. they are aware of the risks associated with the particular adventure activity provided by you (the particular risks should be stated in the written document), ii. they voluntarily engage in such activity, iii. they are old enough and physically fit enough to cope with the rigors of the particular activity, iv. they voluntarily waive any claims that may arise against you as a result of their participation in the particular activity and indemnify you against any such claims by themselves or any person who may claim through them, eg, a spouse or dependant children.

b. exhibiting notices in every place where they can be easily seen stating that the activity may be dangerous, that people engage in them voluntarily and that you accept no liability for any loss or damage suffered by any person as a result of their participation in any such activity.

8. You should also familiarize yourself and comply with all laws applicable to land use zoning (for location of an office); licensing and registration; road transportation permits; public driving permits; regulations and by-laws. In this regard, reference should be made to the brochure titled: How to Establish a Tour Operating Business also published by TKZN. You should also consult your local municipality and an attorney. All toruism enterprises in KZN are required to be registered with the TKZN. The Tourism & Hospitality Education and Training Authority (THETA) should be consulted if you are concerned about any aspect of qualifications for yourself or staff. Their web address is listed at the end of the brochure.

9. Be aware that if you are not fully compliant with the law, you will expose yourself to claims for loss or damage, even if you have covered yourself as described above. Claims under an insurance policy, including public liability insurance, will be refused if your activity does not comply in all respects with the law.

CATEGORIES OF ADVENTURE TOURISM

Many of the activities that can be classified under the banner of Adventure Tourism may also be classified as soft adventure or extreme adventure sports. The only distinction for the purposes of this brochure is that we are concerned with adventure sports that are carried out away from home and one or more service providers may be used for making the arrangements.

Table 1 shows a list of recognized adventure activities. Some of the activities (in italics) cannot be undertaken in KZN or South Africa (for example, Bob sleighing & climbing peaks of 8000 meters) but they are included in the list for the purpose of making prospective entrepreneurs aware of the extensive range of activities. This may open up opportunities for the really adventurous to possibly take or arrange tours for clients to other countries.

Table 1: Activities included in Adventure Tourism No Category of activity AIR 1 Ballooning 2 Ballooning (long distance) 3 Gliding 4 Gliding aerobatics 5 Gliding Motorised 6 Gyrocopters 7 Hang gliding 8 Hang gliding motorised 9 Helicopters 10 Light aircraft 11 Light aircraft aerobatics 12 Light aircraft seaplanes 13 Microlight aircraft 14 Parachuting (base jumping) 15 Parachuting (sky diving) 16 Parachuting (sky surfing) 17 Paragliding 18 Paramotors

CYCLE 1 Cycling Mountain 2 Cycling Racing 3 Cycling Touring

LAND 1 Adventure racing 2 Canyonning 3 Climbing (8000metre peaks) 4 Climbing artificial walls 5 Climbing Ice 6 Climbing Mountaineering 7 Climbing rock 8 Climbing Scrambling 9 Horse touring 10 Hunting Professional with Firearms 11 Hunting Professional with Crossbow 12 Hunting Professional with full bow 13 Hunting Professional with Camera 14 Natural world (birds) 15 Natural world (conservation) 16 Natural world (flora) 17 Natural world (marine) 18 Natural world (safaris) 19 Sailing land yachting 20 Trekking 21 Walking / Hiking 22 Bungee jumping

SNOW 1 Bob sleigh 2 Dog Sledding 3 Ice yachting 4 Polar walking 5 Ski extreme 6 Ski jumping 7 Ski touring 8 Skiing 9 Skiing (heli-skiing 10 Skiing Nordic 11 Skiing Speed 12 Skiing Telemark 13 Snow board touring 14 Snow boarding 15 Snow shoeing

UNDERGROUND 1 Cave Diving 2 Caving

VEHICLE 1 Land speed 2 Overland 4x4 3 Overland motor bikes 4 Overland trucks

WATER 1 Diving Scuba 2 Diving Snorkelling 3 Kayak/canoe touring 4 Kayaking sea 5 Motor yachts 6 Rowing 7 Sailing dinghies 8 Sailing multi-hulls 9 Sailing round the world 10 Sailing tall ships 11 Sailing windsurfing 12 Sailing yachting 13 Surfing 14 Surfing (Kite) 15 Wake boarding 16 Water skiing 17 White water Hydroboard 18 White water Inflatable canoe 19 White water Kayak 20 White water river rafting

MATTERS UNIQUE TO ADVENTURE TOURISM

MATTERS UNIQUE TO ADVENTURE TOURISM i. Age of clientele

The nature of many of the adventure activities is that they demand high levels of fitness, especially those that are dependent upon peoples energy such as climbing, hiking, canoeing etc. This means that according to the activities your business is offering clients you will need to have some means of assessing the fitness of the client to perform the activities. One of the complex problems faced by Adventure Tourism businesses is how to apply such judgment when there may be no legal guidelines or other regulations to assist in discerning the suitability of a client who is wishing to engage in such activities. One of the realities is that some people may have, as the old idiom goes, eyes that are larger than their stomach meaning that they think they can eat more than they are able. Just so, some clients will be inclined to imagine that they are fitter than they are and can actually tackle some obstacle that they are not equipped to undertake. One of the ways around this may be to place an upper limit on the age of prospective clients. You should be aware, however, that every restriction on participation reduces the potential size of your market. It may be more effective, from a business point of view, to tailor a range of activities according to different age and fitness requirements thereby increasing the size of your potential market. This may come as a surprise for some, but experience in the adventure tourism market suggests that the largest age group participating in such activities is people in their thirties, rather than people in their twenties. This means that they are serious about their activities, have probably accumulated quite a bit of experience and so will be less likely to tolerate guiding by people with less experience than themselves. This has important implications for the guides age, qualifications, experience and capabilities.

ii. Guiding

There are a variety of levels at which guiding can take place in the adventure tourism industry. These range from individual guide experiences (eg rock or ice climbing, paragliding etc) to group guiding experiences such as river rafting, wilderness experiences or hiking trails. It is advisable to choose a limited range of activities that you will offer to begin with according to your own guiding experience and only expand the range of activities offered as your business grows. All your guides must comply with all the registration and safety requirements before taking paying guests on trips. Important information on guiding and the registration of guides is available from the TKZN. It is particularly important to be aware that paying guests must be driven by registered guides/couriers because insurance cover is not valid unless such registration exists.

iii. Issues around physical fitness and endurance

If the activity requires specific levels of fitness, endurance, skills and experience it may be possible to specify that clients have evidence of their fitness, skills and/or endurance levels proven through participation in and completion of certain sporting activities. For example, the Comrades Marathon Association require that entrants in the annual event should have completed a standard marathon event in a certain time limit within the few months preceding the marathon. They also specify that if participants in the Comrades race do not pass through the half way mark in a certain time they are obliged to drop out of the race on the grounds that they will not reach the end within the specified cut-off time.

The service provider could set out minimum requirements for individuals wishing to book activity time. It would be desirable in your brochure to indicate likely constraints for clients wishing to participate in selected activities.

A graded range of activities from: Easiest (perhaps suited to all people except those medically unfit); to Extreme events (requiring demonstrated high levels of fitness and commitment); coupled with Various categories in-between.

iv. Safety and Safety Regulations, Medical & Rescue service Issues

Safety issues may arise directly, firstly, as a result of the activity being pursued (eg a rock climber falls) and, secondly, as a result of external factors over which the service provider has no control but for which contingency plans may be made (eg weather changes resulting in climbers being trapped by snow falls).

There are a number of steps in preparing yourself to ensure client safety during the pursuit of the activity itself. These are summarized but should not be treated as an exhaustive list for your specific field of activity.

a) Establish whether your activity or sport has a co- ordinating body or service providers association (eg South African Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association).

b) Establish whether such organization has a list of safety requirements and whether there are any legal requirements to be complied with (eg that your guides be registered for the activities they are undertaking).

c) Establish the costs and time required to achieve such registration.

d) If there are no formalized safety requirements for the activities you offer then try to develop some in discussion with other similar service providers. You may be on the cutting-edge of formulating guidelines that will make the activity safer, something which is in everyones interests.

e) As the owner of the business, ensure that you and your guides are familiar with the safety precautions and know how to enforce them.

f) Ensure that your clients are briefed on the safety precautions and are shown how to implement them. Make sure that the level of risk undertaken in any specific adventure is compatible with the Guides skills and with the skills, experience and expectations of the client.

There are very broadly two situations when outside assistance may be needed. This may be if a client is critically injured or ill and may need to be evacuated, or, if external factors such as inclement weather (snow and ice or flooding) or a wild-fire jeopardizes survival. The service provider must know what emergency steps to set in motion. This may require a variety of actions depending upon the location and the circumstances.

It is for these reasons that the following basic guidelines should be followed:

a) The authorities responsible for an area (eg game reserve, world heritage site, wilderness area etc) should always be informed about the location of your intended activities and your itinerary so that medical or rescue staff know where to begin looking for you should it prove necessary. This will improve the chances of survival in the event of a serious crisis. Medical rescue and evacuations by helicopter are possible through a number of agencies. These services, however, have to be contacted to set them in motion. The Mountain Club of South Africa Web site (http://www.mcsa.org.za) has a set of important steps in accident reporting especially relevant for mountainous areas, but which probably hold true for most situations.

b) In cases where there are no authorities with adequate resources to exercise management over an area (for example, in some very remote areas that are not under the management of the conservation authorities one is pretty much on ones own) make sure that someone knows your itinerary and when you are expected to return so that at least friends or colleagues can institute a search or rescue should something like that prove necessary.

c) Aviation activities have their own requirements which must be adhered to (for example, all cross- country flights involving controlled air-space must be logged with the nearest flight control centre).

d) Ocean Sailing possibly poses one of the riskiest activities in the sense that sea rescue is particularly complex because craft may be blown off-course. Ensuring that the skipper is appropriately registered (with the right ticket see http://www.sailing.org.za) is an essential step for safe off-shore ocean sailing.

Each adventure activity should be able to quantify the risks associated with the activity and identify the scenarios under which rescue or medical services may be needed. The service provider should have a planned course of action for the most likely scenarios. The level of rescue and medical experience and risk should be explained to the client so that when signing an indemnity form exonerating the service provider from responsibility they are aware of what the risks are that they are willingly entering into.

At the end of the brochure is a list of medical rescue- oriented web sites many of which have useful associated information. (See Medical Rescue.)

v. The need for excellent first line medical first-aid skills

The service provider should have guides with recognized first-aid skills of a level suited to the level of risk associated with the activity. There should be adequate medical and first-aid equipment available within reason as may be influenced by the location of the activities being pursued. For example, the level of medical facilities available at a rugby match in a city may include ambulances, medical tent with stretchers, life support systems and the like. On the other hand, a group of climbers tackling high mountain peaks in remote locations will only be able to have the benefit of very basic medical equipment that can be carried in ruck-sacks and the level of medical knowledge of the most well trained first-aider or doctor accompanying them. The time to obtain more sophisticated medical assistance even if helicopters were used could be hours and even several days.

The St Johns Ambulance is one of a suite of similar service providers who can train guides up to the necessary level of first-aid skill required by those guiding the activities being undertaken (see http://www.stjohn.org.za/).

vi. Locations for specific activities (eg kayaking, rock climbing etc)

Usually people entering into an adventure tourism business would have had some experience with their own adventures in the fields being offered. This means that if you aspire, for example, to take paying clients on overnight canoe trips you would have already done many such trips yourself and therefore you would already have knowledge of where such activities are possible. This would be true for all adventure tourism service providers. The nature of Adventure Tourism is that specialized knowledge is needed about the activity, the locations available, the risks associated with different locations and the likelihood of specific problems arising that may be life threatening. It would be very negative publicity and marketing for your company to be proven negligent leading to the loss of a clients life.

BUSINESS ISSUES

Structure of Your Business

You may be registered as a Sole Proprietor, or your business may be registered as a Private Limited Company ((Pty) Ltd Company), or Close Corporation (cc)). Chambers of Commerce are a useful contact through which to obtain details of organisations that can give advice on the structuring of your business. Advice may also be obtained from Business Advice Centres. It is advisable to employ the services of an accountant and not to try and perform the business accounting functions yourself. Your skills should be best directed at your core business and it is better to use a specialist who can assist with the financial aspects. Failure in the business management aspects often results in the unnecessary loss of large amounts of money. The ability to analyse financial trends and to make accurate predictions is a specialized aspect of any business which requires the skills of specialists. Many entrepreneurs will tell you that the use of an accountant has saved them large amounts of money through the application of their specialist skills.

Managing Your Business

Management of your business will involve: a decision on the types and packaging of services; the costing of those services; bookkeeping and accounting; arrangement of VAT and taxes; record-keeping for your own records, for advertising reasons and for tax purposes; taking and managing bookings from clients; employment and labour conditions which includes employment equity, labour unions, and conditions of employment; training of staff: it is vitally important that staff are trained as professionals in the special skills required for the adventure activities they handle and customer care; and insurance cover which includes both security and public liability.

A useful guideline in the context of managing your business is to do that which you are good at (most probably this will be the hosting of clients on adventure sporting activities, which is why you enter the business in the first place) and use specialists to do for you what they are good at. This does not mean you do not need to know anything about running a business, on the contrary it requires you to learn, but it does mean that you can learn from the specialists who provide you with support. This can reduce the period over which you learn but it can also reduce the likelihood of making costly mistakes that waste money and may even sink your business. Small business is particularly susceptible to the vagaries of cash flow. You may develop contracts with large generalist tour companies to take their clients who are seeking specific adventure activities on a reduced rate or fee. If such business is regular and they pay on time this may be good bread and butter whereas the clients you land yourself through your own marketing may be more profitable but less frequent. In a small business regular cash flow is of very great value.

Marketing and Advertising

Marketing and advertising may be done through a variety of mediums such as printed brochures, magazine advertisements (in outdoor or environmental magazines such as Getaway et al) internet, television and word of mouth. The KZNTA should be approached to enter your business in their tourism assets database for the Province which provides freely available information on tourism facilities and activities. The District Councils have copies of the same database. Local Publicity Associations should also be approached to help disseminate your information by displaying your printed brochures.

Any brochures produced to advertise your establishment should include contact details, an easily readable map showing where you are located and if appropriate the location of activities in which you specialize.

Email and internet access are especially important for tourism marketing. Experience of firms in the adventure tourism market confirms that email access for communication and a web-site for advertising bring in much of their trade. In other words they would not survive without such access. Internet access also provides access to the web- sites of other service providers and this is useful in linking ones business to the activities of others. The TKZN has contacts to which they could refer you for advice on web-sites and marketing. You should also be aware that there are Adventure Tourism marketing opportunities overseas, especially in New York (USA) and in Australia.

A fundamental component in the marketing of your product is communication. It is vitally important that email enquiries are replied to with intelligent and easily understandable letters. The email is likely to be one of the important windows through which you, your firm and the products. You must use someone to reply to inquiries and requests for information who can spell correctly and communicate clearly.

Physical Location of your Business

The question of where you should locate your business is a complex one and requires some careful thought. You may feel that you should be located near the area where your activities take place or alternatively that you should be located in the city nearer to most of your clients. Some of the aspects that you should consider in answering these questions are:

1. If you feel that you should be located in the city nearer to your clients: How many clients can I take on a single trip? Is specialized transport (eg 4x4, kombi, luggage and equipment trailers) needed to reach the destination? Are multiple destinations used for the adventures? Do I have available, or can I afford the appropriate transport to convey my clients comfortably and safely to their destination(s)? Can the market afford to pay me to do the transportation?

2. If you feel that you should be located at an adventure location: Is suitable accommodation available at the venue? Is only one venue used for the adventure activities you offer? Is the venue reached easily and without specialized transport? Is there somewhere safe for clients to leave their vehicles? Will clients find you easily? Equipment

The equipment needs for adventure tourism range from sophisticated scuba diving equipment, rock climbing ropes, karabiners, harness and helmets to 4x4 quad bikes and mountain bicycles, depending upon what activities are being offered. Almost all adventure tourism has the need for some specialized equipment, even camping requires waterproof tents, portable cooking and sleeping equipment plus the vehicles in which to transport such equipment.

There are a number of factors to consider when deciding about the provision of equipment: It is very important that as a service provider you should be absolutely clear to your clients about what you provide and what you expect them to provide. If you are only catering for South Africans they may be able to provide some or all of their own equipment depending upon the activities. For example, many adventure outings will require rustic camping, sleeping in caves or under the night sky. In such instances South Africans may be required to bring their own sleeping bags (rated for temperature ranges suitable for the conditions likely to be experienced). However, if foreign tourists are being catered for they may not be able to bring their own sleeping bags (because of space and weight constraints when they fly) and you will need to provide such equipment on a hire basis. Typically a service provider will provide bulkier equipment for the activities to be pursued. This may include bulkier items such as tents, tables, chairs, gas cooking equipment and portable showers, whereas the client would provide sleeping bag, personal belongings and possibly cutlery and crockery (the range to be specified by the service provider). Typically a service provider would also provide specialist equipment. So a dive operator, for example, would provide for hire: scuba equipment, wet suits, flippers, weight belts, face masks etc. The service provider would also provide the boat although it would usually be included in the price of the adventure rather than identified as an additional item for hire. This approach leaves the clients flexible and able to provider some of their own equipment but leaves the service provider able to contain and direct the group by limiting the number of people to those who will fit into the boat provided.

When deciding about the type and quality of equipment you should keep the following issues in mind: Equipment must be of an appropriate design and quality for the purpose for which it is to be used. Where safety is dependent upon the equipment type chosen it is essential that industry standards should be used in guiding choices of quality and design. Equipment may be divided into that which is needed for the actual activity such as ropes, harness and belay points for bungee jumping, hot-air balloons etc and that which is needed for emergency use such as fire extinguishers, first aid kit and tools. You will need enough equipment to enable the activities to be safely carried out, for example, climbing ropes should be adequate to the length of the pitches of the climb chosen; quad bikes should be able to carry enough fuel to complete the routes chosen etc.

USEFUL CONTACTS AND INTERNET ADDRESSES

South African Hang gliding and Paragliding Association. SAHPA is the controlling and licensing Authority for the recreational sport of hang gliding and Paragliding in South Africa. http://www.paragliding.co.za/sahpa/

To fly legally in SA you need what is listed here: http://www.paragliding.co.za/sahpa/Foreign.htm.

South African Power Flying Association in SA The Aero Club consists of the following sections:- Power Flying, Gliding, Parachuting, Aerobatics, Ballooning, Hang Gliding & Paragliding, Aero-Modelling, Homebuilders, Microlighting, Experimental Aircraft and Virtual Aviation. Aero Club is affiliated to the Federation Aeronautique Internationale - the world controlling body for sport aviation. No competitive recreational flying activity in South Africa is recognized without Aero Club approval. This includes world record attempts. http://www.sapfa.org.za/administration.php

Directory of airborne sports in South Africa http://www.rainbownation.com/directory/index.asp?CatID=93

Aqua Air Kite Boarding experience http://www.kiteschoolsa.com/

South Africa Sky Divers Handbook http://www.humanflight.com

KWAZULU-NATAL Mountain Biking Assoc http://www.geocities.com/kznmba/

Links to Cycling web-sites in SA http://www.fredparrcycledesign.com/safricanlinks.htm

Professional Hunting. Contains codes of conduct etc and legal guidelines for bringing rifles etc into the country http://www.professionalhunters.co.za/

Southern Africa Tourism Services Association http://www.ecoafrica.com/satsa/satsa.htm

South African Tourism Association http://www.go2africa.com/satour.asp

South African Endurance Horse Riders Association http://www.erasa.co.za/

The MOUNTAIN CLUB OF SOUTH AFRICA offers a volunteer specialist service in mountain search and rescue together with government institutions and other volunteer organisations. http://www.mcsa.org.za/main/e_search_rescue/search_rescue.ht m Go the MCSA homepage and follow links to a range of service providers in the hiking and mountaineering field. http://www.mcsa.org.za/

Hiking Federation of South Africa http://www.linx.co.za/trails/info/hikefed.html

MOTORSPORT SOUTH AFRICA is the controlling body of all motorsport in South Africa, including circuit racing, rallying, off-road, motocross, oval racing, karting, speedway and trials. Following the link to Starting Up will take one to a screen providing all the administrative, safety and legal requirements for being involved in motor sport. The safety requirements would provide a useful checklist for adventure sports such as off-road quad biking. http://www.motorsport.co.za/

Scuba diving http://www.naui.org/index-side.html

South African Sailing is the amalgamated body of two previous associations, South African Yacht Racing Association & the Cruising Association of South Africa, both of which were initiated in 1970's. Those two organisations and now SA Sailing (SAS) have administered the sport of competitive and recreational sailing since that time. The main functions that SA Sailing performs are as follows: Liaison with International Bodies Liaison with Government Departments. Maintain a database of registered Class Yachts and Dinghies. Maintain a register of Offshore Yachts. Maintenance of Offshore Safety Standards and Skipper Certification. There are 5 skipper tickets. See the web site. Development of Sailing. http://www.yachtclub.org.za/SAS%20CV.htm

General. SA Sailing has offices in Germiston, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town that exist to promote sailing as a sport and provide assistance to yachtsmen. This is the main web site. http://www.sailing.org.za/

From here you will be able to find out more about the incredibly diverse attractions of canoeing and kayaking in South Africa, from the world class sprinting venues, slalom and wild water disciplines, to the hugely popular long distance river racing season that forms the backbone of the sport. Following the links to medical will take you to the world anti-doping agency for a list of banned drugs. http://www.canoesa.org.za/

A useful facility is the grading of South African rivers for skills required. http://www.canoesa.org.za/Safety/rivers.htm

The International Ecotourism Society 733 15th St., NW, Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20005 Telephone: 202-347-9203 Fax: 202-387-7915 http://www.ecotourism.org/

Business Advice Centres Durban 031-309 5432 KwaNgwanase 035-592 0125 Pietermaritzburg 033-345 4604 Stanger 032- 559 9087

Tourism KwaZulu-Natal (TKZN) 031-366 7500

South African Tourism Board (SA Tourism) 011-778 8000

Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (SATSA) 031- 261 2525

St Johns Ambulance South Africa http://www.stjohn.org.za/

South African Red Cross Society http://www.redcross.org.za/

International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies http://www.ifrc.org/address/za.asp

South African Hikes: some basic guidance on first aid including snake bite for hikers in South Africa. This is a useful site for a variety of purposes to do with hiking. http://home.intekom.com/hiking/firstaid.htm

Listing of medical emergency services in South Africa http://www.ananzi.co.za/catalog/HealthandBeauty/HealthandMed ical/EmergencyServices/

Medical evacuation information http://www.siyabona.com/medical-evacuation.html

Medical Rescue International and others. http://www.mri.co.za/; http://www.siyabona.com/medical- evacuation.html; http://www.zambiatourism.com/ses/; http://www.isos.co.za/ ; http://www.internationalsos.com/Countries/SouthAfrica/; http://www.kznwildlife.com/hike_rescue.htm

The Tourism & Hospitality Education and Training Authority (THETA) http://www.theta.org.za/

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