Cape Town - The Robben Island Museum plans to acquire two new vessels to ferry visitors to the World Heritage site.
It will also unveil a new cellphone app that will do away with the need for tour guides on the island.
On Wednesday, museum chief executive Sibongiseni Mkize, chief heritage officer Pascall Taruvinga, and marketing manager Nomonde Dlangisa invited tourism industry stakeholders to a joint meeting at the Nelson Mandela Gateway.
They said it was the first engagement of its kind where stakeholders could share their views with the museum’s executive.
Taruvinga said at the meeting that the museum was in the process of acquiring two additional boats. The vessels could take from six to eight months to obtain and the cost could not be disclosed by the museum management on Wednesday
The museum has three operational vessels, two of which serve as ferries and one as a cargo boat. The fourth boat, Sikhululekile, has been out of commission since last January because of breakdowns. The two operating ferries, Diaz and Susan Kruger, are considered old vessels.
Taruvinga said: “The two boats are historic boats and they give an authentic experience, but were not designed to run three to four trips a day. Because of their age, breaking down is an order of the day.”
“We often have to make use of chartered boats and that sometimes depends on their availability,” she said.
Boats are chartered depending on demand. The price for chartering private vessels varied, depending on the company.
Tour operators who attended the briefing said they were pleased with the announcements.
Samantha Mtinini, from Camissa Travel, said although the new boats would take longer than expected to arrive, she was happy the museum was taking the initiative.
But she had problems with the lack of communication. “Things were not being communicated to us. There were times when trips were cancelled due to “technicalities” and you are only told 30 minutes before boarding time. This sometimes messes up my schedule because I have other set plans for other tours.”
Mtinini said because of cancellations she had to refund customers and, in turn, had to wait for up to a month to be reimbursed by the museum.
She said she also had problems with the last boat that arrived back at 6pm, especially if it was delayed, because by then no one was available at the information centre to account for any delays.
“Sometimes there is a mix-up on the island and the boats are packed,” said Mtinini.
“If you have a group of 30 you can find that half of that group has been left behind and they need to wait for the boat to return. It’s a mess and it is frustrating.”
Taruvinga said the app would act as a tour guide and provide information about significant spots on the island.
“We already have an interactive website, but the cellphone app is for when you come to the island, you don’t need a tour guide.”
Johnathan Muller, a tour operator from Trips and Tracks SA, said he was disappointed with the suggested cellphone app.
“I feel that with the app, tourist guides are undermined. Tourism is the easiest institution for job creation. They are planning to replace guides with machines. This is watering down our tourism industry,” he said.
* Nicolette Dirk of the Cape Times reports that Mkhize said:
“Robben Island is a difficult and challenging institute to manage and we are trying our best despite the odds,” Mkhize.
For the past five years the museum had focused on stabilising its financial management and corporate governance.
“We now want to focus on making Robben Island a place that is reliable and flexible for visitors. We want visitors to be able to stay as long as they want to on the island,” he said.
The lack of proper parking facilities for visitors, notification of price increases and refund issues when booking online were some of the other issues highlighted by various tour guides, which marketing manager Nomonde Ndlangisa said they would look into.