Ekurhuleni brings local tourism to schools

The contribution to the community and the potential for further growth of domestic tourism is often underestimated.

The metro, in an effort to tap into the domestic tourism market, has turned its focus to encouraging its residents to spend more time and money locally.

Residents can do this by exploring the varied domestic offerings in and around the metro. As part of the campaign dubbed “My Ekurhuleni My Pride”, the metro will attempt to entice the community into discovering their own backyards, by showing them that domestic tourism and domestic products are fun, easy, accessible and affordable.

To do this the metro is focusing on bringing its campaign message to local schools.

Sam Modiba, municipal spokesman explained that “there is no better way to inculcate the culture of local travelling than to start with school pupils and to make sure that our local tourism and hospitality are ingrained in the education of children in the community.”

For this reason the metro has invited Grade 11 and 12 travel and tourism teachers from all schools in the region to learn as much as they can about the metro’s tourism and tourism products.

Modiba added: “Our hope with this campaign is that once we have exposed the teachers to local tourism and tourism products, they will take their pupils on the same tour and use local tourism as an example in their lessons.

“But, even more importantly, we hope to see the pupils and teachers taking their own families along to the same local tourism destinations.”

The metro further emphasised the impact domestic tourism has on local economies and job creation.

The campaign will also assist schools with tourism materials in their efforts to create tourism libraries.

The tour offered to the teachers on September 12 was put together with the help of the Gauteng Department of Education.

The tour programme began at Ekurhuleni headquarters, in Germiston, and then moved to the Aviation Museum at Rand Airport, and then to OR Tambo International Airport. Lunch was served at Emperors Palace, in Kempton Park.

After lunch the tour moved to the multi-million Rand OR Tambo Cultural Precinct in Wattville, and finally to the Rondebult Bird Sanctuary, in Boksburg.