your feet on the ground for now.

Through astro-tourism one can witness a meteor shower, observe galaxies using a telescope, or learn about celestial objects from experts.

Astro-tourism has offerings such as observatories, telescopes, museums, planetariums, meteorite sites, visitor centres, amateur astronomy clubs, stargazing and accommodation.

The project is being piloted in the Northern Cape province which hosts two astronomy instruments—the MeerKAT telescope, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in Carnarvon and the South African Large Telescope (SALT) in Sutherland.

Tourism spokesperson Tasneem Carrim said the strategy will be implemented in various urban and rural areas, which offer quality dark night skies and astronomy facilities with tourism experiences.

Carrim says: “Examples of urban astro-tourism products contained in the strategy are the WITS Digital Dome in Johannesburg, the Naval Hill Planetarium in Bloemfontein and the Visitor Centre at the South African Astronomical Observatory in Cape Town.”

19:T5ea,SOUTH Africans will soon be able take a trip to see the stars.The tourism industry body, Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (Fedhasa), has expressed optimism in the country’s new tourism node, Astro-Tourism.The National Astro-Tourism Strategy is a joint effort between the Department of Tourism led by Minister Patricia de Lille and the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation led by Minister Blade Nzimande.But for those imagining flying into space in a rocket, keep your feet on the ground for now. Through astro-tourism one can witness a meteor shower, observe galaxies using a telescope, or learn about celestial objects from experts.Astro-tourism has offerings su

Dark skies and bright stars: top global stargazing destinations