by Xinhua writer Lyu Tianran

CAPE TOWN, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Andre Van der Nerwe from Johannesburg was strolling with his wife on a hiking trail lying across a stretch of land carpeted with wildflowers in Namaqua National Park's Skilpad section, which was in its annual flower season in late August.

The couple, who spent two nights in the park, crossed South Africa's vast land from the northeast to the northwest, with a straight-line distance of over 1,200 km, to see seasonal wildflowers in the arid Northern Cape Province.

"I didn't expect to see so many (species of flowers). It has different varieties. When you walk in, you see so many different flowers," said Van der Nerwe. While they were talking, tourists' cars kept passing by.

Namaqua National Park, initially a wildflower reserve, is known for wildflowers grown on its arid land during the flower season running from early August to September. During this season, the dusty valleys of Namaqualand are transformed into a wonderland.

Situated within the biodiversity hotspot Succulent Karoo biome, the area's soil type, climate and rainfall contribute to the abundance of flowers, according to the park.

Despite the negative impact of COVID-19 on the tourism sector across the globe and restrictions on international travels, wildflowers tourism in Namaqua National Park and some other areas along the over-700-km wildflower route, stretching from Namaqualand region to the popular tourism city Cape Town in neighboring Western Cape Province, remains flourishing, due to a booming domestic tourism market.

Flower season is the period when the park's finance hugely increases due to the influx of visitors and the park's four chalets are normally fully booked, Park Manager Pheladi Chuene told Xinhua.

Namaqua welcomed back visitors in early August 2020 following the ease of lockdown measures, and the number of people coming in was "surprisingly" almost the same number as the same period in 2019, she said.

In the rural village Soebatsfontein, a gateway to the park's another section and about 25 km west of Skilpad, guest lodge owners Raymond Castelyn and his wife Linda said their lodge, which has 12 rooms, has had good business during the current flower season and a lot of people came to the lodge after the flower season started.

The couple, at the age of 62 and 63 respectively, were drawn by wildflowers to open a lodge in the village, living in Soebatsfontein and their original place of residence Cape Town in turn.

"We make the decision (to come here) because it is a lovely area and flowers are beautiful when they are in season," said Linda.

To them, flowers along roads are beautiful, but they become more attractive when you get close to them, finding their variety. More interestingly, flowers are always different year by year. "Last year when we were driving, there are more yellow flowers. The previous year you didn't see any of them," said Raymond.

In Western Cape, following a drought in 2018, the 2020 and 2021 flower seasons have been much better due to better rainfall, which also boosted interest in the flower season particularly from domestic tourists, Western Cape Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities David Maynier responded to Xinhua in a written interview.

Dorothy Human, 64, from Northern Cape's Kimberley, was heading to Western Cape's Clanwilliam to look for flowers after enjoying her first trip in Namaqua National Park. This would be her second time in years to view wildflowers in Clanwilliam.

In an official flower route map, Biedouw Valley and Ramskop Nature Reserve around Clanwilliam as well as the Postberg section in the West Coast National Park, also in Western Cape, are "a must to visit."

Despite the pandemic, last year and this year's flower seasons are "extremely good" and all accommodations in the town were fully booked on one day last week, Sanet Stander, head of marketing at Clanwilliam Tourism told Xinhua, adding that the beginning week of September is also "very, very busy." Stander attributed this to the "amazing" number of individual local travelers.

The West Coast National Park, another popular spot, also announced that the good rains this year should make for an "excellent" flower-viewing season with the peaking time from the second half of August up until mid-September.

It is the fifth most-visited national park in South Africa, receiving 250,638 visitors in 2019/2020, and the flower season is "certainly a key driver" for the popularity of the park, Maynier told Xinhua.

Western Cape's tourism sector generated 15.5 billion rands (about 1.1 billion U.S. dollars) in gross value and supported close to 175,000 jobs in 2019, official figures showed.

As the province's tourism and hospitality sector will hopefully start to experience a period of relief from September and the onward busy summer season, the local government has vowed to reignite the industry with all efforts.

"We will continue to do everything we can to ensure the most successful summer season possible by tackling barriers to growth for the tourism and hospitality sector, increasing connectivity to the region and running our award-winning destination marketing campaigns that showcase the best that Cape Town and the Western Cape has to offer," Maynier said. Enditem

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