NICHE SOWETO TOURISM
- by Ken Creighton

How we started

Soweto.co.za is part of the KDR Sports and Adventure Travel Pty Ltd group.
The web site was started after we noticed that there weren't any tour companies offering a "complete" tour of Soweto. There were lots offering you a drive through tour with a view of Soweto through a bus window with a quick lunch at one of the restaurants before you were rushed back to you hotel room.
There was also a lack of information on Soweto. There was no tourism authority (One is now in the process of being formed - (2004 - Sotoda)) and people didn't know how to get into contact with the right people in Soweto except through a string of tour companies and intermediaries - some less than reputable.
Denis (one of the partners in KDR Travel), who had been involved with housing and "upliftment" projects in Soweto for many years, gathered together a few role players and we started gathering information. Then we put our own tours together with Denis as the tour guide. The tours focused on getting people out of the vehicles and into the markets, the hostels, the squatter camps and into some real shebeen's (local bars)
We met Thamsanqa Ndimande (Thami) who also shared the view that a lot of tours were not experiential enough and started using him on some of our tours. He was soon permanently employed by us and now heads up all our tours and the marketing of the tours.
When we took people to a squatter camp we used Mshengeuville in the Mofolo area. We soon realised that apart from just paying them to let us take clients around their homes, there was far more we could do and a lot more that our clients wanted to do. We have since sponsored a soccer team, bought a Zozo hut for the kids to play in, Sponsor a crèche and have helped organise an "Edutainer" for the crèche to have classes in, put together lots of clothes and food drives and taken the kids on outings to places they have never been before like nature reserves.

We have also recently launched a range of postcards featuring Soweto and will soon have Calendars and Mouse pads as well. These are produced for the general public as well as giveaways for corporate's to give to their clients.

Who's Who in Soweto.co.za
The Soweto.co.za team is primarily made up of the following team members:

About the company

KDR Sports and Adventure Travel Pty Ltd, particularly through the development of the web site www.soweto.co.za, have fast become one of the leading Soweto Tour operators.
KDR has been in operation since August 2001 and is a SATSA (South African Tourism Services Assoc.) registered Tour company and travel agency dealing with both inbound and outbound travel. We have also been with the Soweto Tourism Association (SOTODA) since it's founding.

Other KDR operations include Sportstravel.co.za; Inhaca.co.za; VicFalls.co.za; Zimbali.org; Drakensberg.biz;

KDR have not just been handling tours for the leisure market, but many large high profile corporate groups as well - many of whom have returned time and time again.
We have the operational expertise and links with the best suppliers to be able to coordinate a large amount of people traveling to Soweto at any one time, yet still be able to ensure a personal and fulfilling experience for all guests.

Special interest groups, fact finding teams and school groups have all been added to our impressive portfolio of clientele. Our guides are fully qualified and very experienced and the vehicles we use are of a high standard and fully insured to carry passengers. 
A trip to Soweto should be compulsory for anyone interested in the history & future of this country. We are also involved with a series of community development projects in Soweto such as AIDS beading programs / Mshenguville Crèche establishment / Guide training sponsorship / Mofolo Football team sponsorship / Wildlife field trips / Small business investment and many more. A percentage of proceeds from all our tours also gets distributed to various sources within the area.

Contact Details for Soweto.co.za and KDR

Current corporate clients

Herewith a list of some of the many groups (in no particular order) that we have handled successful tours for: