Durban - The Midlands Meander embraces the old and new.
The tourist route in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, which has celebrated its 30th anniversary this month, is going all out to embrace technology.
A new travel guide and mobile app were launched at the birthday celebrations at St Ives last week.
Marian Evans, the Midlands Meander manager, explained the advantages of using the app.
“It will transform the cellphone into a guide on the go – the information they want will be a button away.
“Traditionally, visitors have paged through the Midlands Meander Guide. This has become a sought-after magazine that offers visitors a smorgasbord of options on where to stay, eat, shop and what to do while visiting.
“Our theme changes every year and we add stories and snippets of information about the people and history of the area that keep enticing visitors back.
“This year the theme is a look at the members who founded the Midlands Meander route 30 years ago.”
These were a group of artists and crafters who were battling to access the commercial markets in the big cities due to rising costs. They also had to cope with the politically tumultuous times of the mid-1980s.
They decided to create a tourism route throughout the Midlands so visitors to the area could come and see them at work in their studios and buy from them.
Those humble, hippie-style artists and crafters have grown into thriving and accomplished galleries and businesses. But they remain true to their country roots and this is what draws city tourists looking for a country break into the green, misty hills of the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.
The Midlands Meander App is available on the Google Play Store for any Android phone.
It combines simplicity and cutting-edge technology, enabling visitors to use their cellphones to navigate the Midlands Meander.
App users can look forward to:
l Real-time navigation to help you get from place to place using Google maps.
l A page for each of the more than 150 Midlands Meander establishments, with contact details, descriptions, opening times, photographs and links to help you plan your Meandering.
l Advanced search options so you can find exactly what you are looking for on the Midlands Meander.
Those who have iPhones will have to wait until December 1 for the app to become available in iOS, in time for the December holidays.
Call the Midlands Meander office at 033 330 819 or write to [email protected].
Saturday Star