Travellers can now explore a variety of off-the-beaten tourism routes in Southern Africa on the new Open Africa website developed by Flow Communications.
Open Africa is a registered not-for-gain organisation under thepatronage of Nelson Mandela. It was established in 1995 with the aim ofboosting tourism, job creation and conservation. Visitors to the sitecan browse routes running through South Africa, Lesotho, Mozambique,Namibia, Swaziland and Zambia.
In addition to discovering the many treasures Southern Africa has tooffer, travellers are able to support providers of various servicesfrom accommodation and restaurants to arts and craft shops and localtourism operators.
The formation of the routes are grounded on the twin principles ofsustainability and community participation, key components of theAfrikatourism concept based on Africa’s strengths and designed to meetAfrica’s needs.
The site provides an interactive experience for users, with routesand service providers from curio shops to guesthouses plotted on Google Maps, which allows users to zoom into satellite and aerial images of the places that capture their interest.
“With Google Maps users can virtually travel to a destination andget a feeling for what they are going to visit,” says Richard Frank,media developer at Flow Communications. “Seeing a mountain lodgeperched atop a mountain across from a river gives a clearer image thanwords ever could,” explains Frank.
In another first for Flow, the site was built using CodeIgniter, an open source web application framework that is used to build dynamic, flexible web sites with PHP.
Said Open Africa’s Francois Viljoen, after the new site was showcased at the launch of a new route, the Drakensberg Experience, “The launch was fantastic. Everyone is extremely impressed with the website. Thank you so much for all the hard work.”