Skukuza Hotel Progress (Kruger National Park)

[Richprins]

Thanks, H.!

Will look later!

[Richprins]

Gerhard Smit (GS) wanted to know which bungalows will be removed and asked whether any of the
luxury bungalows will be impacted. TH showed the applicable bungalows on the presentation. The
luxury bungalows are situated closer to the Sabie River and will not be impacted.
TM referred to the ‘virgin view’ on slide 10. He showed the lattice screen around the side. Two views of
the lodge (from the north and east) were shown in between the current trees. He indicated that
balconies are proposed only in the VIP suites.

Later on it says that the 5 units will not be replaced, and the lodge will cater for the shortfall. However, the lost units are non-luxury? So that will not happen!


Motivation: GP gave a presentation on the motivation for the project. He explained the demand for
this type of development. He also stated that SANParks is promoting the Meetings, Incentives,
Conferences and Events (MICE) market. He added that this is an old concept as there are already
conference facilities in the Kruger National Park (KNP).

Precisely. Current conference facilities are not exactly being overutilised. Nobody asked SANParks to promote MICE...it has a purely financial incentive.


This is used as an exposure mechanism to
people who might not on their own visit the National Parks. They offer research conferences and
international conferences.

What research has been done to suggest this? The Park is already overfull of tourists who go there for the nature experience, anyway, and presumably conference-goers have heard of Kruger before?

He added that Skukuza was selected as a suitable location for the lodge due
to various reasons. Firstly to make better use of the conference facility (“use what we have”).

So if there were no Conference Centre this added burden would not be necessary?

The airport has been re-opened and is currently being used. The Charter services are less now that the
airport is open and using scheduled flights.

So the airport was opened to cater for the Conference Centre and Hotel...


Unemployment is high around the park and SANParks need
to incorporate people and create jobs.

No, they don't! They need to look after our wildlife.


The current occupancies in Skukuza is 85% and is steadily
growing. GP referred to a graph over the years were the amount of visitors spike every time there is a
new addition to infrastructure in the park.

But occupancy is 85% and growing! Why build more then? Why is a spike needed if it is growing?


GP explained the SANParks’ site selection process and
explained that transport was the major issue and therefore the proximity to the conference the
deciding factor.


This is a huge cop-out. Everything is now being justified in terms of the Conference Centre, built without reasonable public participation, and obviously not doing well. REPEATED promises were made that the Conference Centre would use existing Skukuza accommodation. That was therefore a lie. If the Centre has been financially viable up to now, why incur the gigantic expense of building a hotel? This is throwing good money after bad...and it's our money! Other reasons have been given for luxury SP Lodges in Kruger, initially to do with "black diamonds", then foreign visitors, then government employees...I fear the last one gives the best clue.

More to come...

[nan]

thank you RP

[Richprins]

Thanks to the opposition at the meeting, also, nana! They weren't expecting much more than a briefing, I don't think, and stood their ground in front of one of the biggest public gatherings of SP top brass management in a long time!

[Flutterby]

Thanks for posting H.e. Lots to digest!

[Toko]

Traffic Impact Assessment: Corli Havenga (CH) presented the Traffic study. The traffic impact
assessment utilized the gate entry data dating 2007 to 2012, the Traffic Impact Study done for the
Conference Facility, dated May 2008 as well as the Traffic Assessment (TA) done for the Marula Region
Strategic Environmental Assessment Kruger Park, dated July 2008. The measurements were done at
the major intersections (refer to slide24 for counting stations). She stated that the guidelines that are
normally used are for sub-urban areas which are not applicable in this instance. CH stated that that the
Park has decided on density of two vehicles per kilometre as a guideline density measure. Three gates
are expected to be (predominantly) used by tourists travelling to the conference facility/lodge; The
Numbi, Phabeni and Kruger Gates. Gate data was used from 2008 to derive current expected traffic.
Traffic from staff staying outside of the park is expected to be minimal as they will be transported by
bus. Currently some conference delegates stay outside the Kruger Park due to lack of appropriate
accommodation inside Skukuza, adding additional trips. The provision of the lodge is expected to lower
the number of vehicles travelling in and out of the park. Currently a lot of the conference goers also
stay inside Skukuza Rest Camp, but drive to the conference facility to avoid the long walk. Driving and
parking vehicles inside the camp could be avoided if the lodge is next to Conference Facility. This also
creates a shortage in parking space. CH stated that they expect a maximum of 128 trips per day (worst
case scenario). In the study they recognise there will be more trips on the (game viewing) roads
surrounding Skukuza as a result of the lodge. They have looked at four different scenarios: Scenario 1:
All the Safari Lodge guests use the Numbi Gate; Scenario 2: All the Safari Lodge guests use the Phabeni
Gate; Scenario 3: All the Safari Lodge guests use the Paul Kruger Gate; Scenario 4: The Safari Lodge
guests use all three of the above mentioned gates in equal numbers. CH stated that the road between
Kruger Gate and Skukuza is already above the KNP’s guideline density (more than 2 vehicles / km).
Some mitigation currently proposed include a Park & Ride facility that will be built at the Kruger Gate
and those visitors shall be incentivised through an accommodation discounting structure for mak ing
use of the Park & Ride facility.

The increase or decrease of traffic is a major concern and the quoted piece is only a short version of the Traffic Impact Assessment from November 2014.
Please note that all data used for the assessment come from traffic counts done at the relevant counting stations were done from 16 to 22 April 2008 for the “low
season” and from 6 to 12 April 2008 for the “high season”. I doubt that these old finds are still relevant For the gate entries only visitor (person) entries were
recorded at the gates and not the number of vehicles entering.

Traffic Impact Assessment states

The use of the Safari Lodge to provide accommodation for conference delicates will in fact contribute to a reduction in traffic on the road network. At this stage some conference delegates stay outside the Kruger Park because of the lack of appropriate accommodation inside Skukuza, adding additional trips to the road
network.

Well, this is a possible scenario only if conferences are not one/two day events with one overnight stay. Is there any data on the duration of conferences to support this assumption?

The worst case traffic scenario will be during high peak periods where the Safari Lodge will be used to provide accommodation to visitors.
The following assumptions are made:
Average stay of 2 nights per room 1 trip (vehicle) per two beds
An average stay of 2 nights in the Safari Lodge will result in an expected trip generation of 128 trips per day on one of the roads between the 3 respective gates serving the Kruger National Park and Skukuza Camp.
The provision of additional accommodation in Skukuza Camp will also contribute to a slight increase in traffic on the roads surrounding the camp. This will be more so over peak times when the Safari Lodge will be used to provide additional accommodation in the Kruger Park. During normal operating times the Safari Lodge will tend to lower the number of vehicles currently on the roads, because conference delegates will not need to travel in and out of the park while attending a conference.

So .... in the high season there will be more traffic, wow that's a great scenario and in the presentation you sum it up like this: "The provision of the lodge is expected to lower." Well, that's selective use of the assessment

Please do not ignore these parts of the assessment:

Of the planned 128 staff members only 40 to 48 staff members will be accommodated in Skukuza, the rest will be transported by bus daily.

Road H11, the road between the Paul Kruger Gate and Skukuza, is already above the threshold value and the traffic impact of the proposed Safari Lodge will be less than a 14% (worst case scenario) increase in traffic volumes and more realistically an increase in the region of 4%.

The comprehensive Traffic Assessment done for the park in July 2008 measured the congestion levels on different roads in the park. This study did not measure the congestion levels on the four routes closest to Skukuza Camp, namely: H11 between Skukuza and S1, H1-1 between Skukuza and H3, H1-2 and H4-1. We expect congestion levels to be already high on these routes.

And this jewel of a contradiction

The Safari Lodge will not contribute significantly to current congestion levels on the roads in the park and can be supported from a traffic point of view. We recognise the fact that current congestion levels on roads close to Skukuza Camp are already higher than the threshold value of 3 vehicles/km.

Are you sure that you have sound info on the traffic and can estimate the impact?

[Toko]

The current occupancies in Skukuza is 85% and is steadily growing. GP referred to a graph over the years were the amount of visitors spike every time there is a
new addition to infrastructure in the park.

The aim of the hotels is to increase visitor numbers in already overcrowded areas Is there a bigger picture, can you please provide the number of visitors you want to have in Southern Kruger? Is there a plan?

Have you considered how to increase visitor numbers for the less visited parks and park areas, would make more sense, IMO

[Lisbeth]

PROPOSED SAFARI LODGE DEVELOPMENT - SKUKUZA
CONDENSED CONCEPT DESIGN REPORT FOR BAR
November 2014

[Lisbeth]

[Lisbeth]