The Role of Environmental Tourism in Employment

Tourism plays a critical role in creating employment opportunities in a small rural village such as De Rust. Other than the agricultural sector, much of which is seasonal, the major opportunities for job creation lie in the environmental tourism sector which offers many varied openings - particularly to young people with a reasonable level of education and good language skills.

The whole question of Environmental Tourism is receiving more and more attention globally and De Rust should be seizing the opportunity in creating facilities for this specialised market including Farm Stays, Horse Trails, Mountain Biking and Hiking among others.  The specific De Rust Klein Karoo environment and climate lends itself to activities of this type and local service providers need to do more to identify De Rust as a specific target destination and not part of the larger Oudtshoorn offering.