The campaign was launched by the Limpopo Tourism Agency (LTA) in collaboration with the Department of Economic Development and Tourism (Ledet) and other tourism stakeholders including the Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality (BPM). Various winter promotions from participating tourism products were announced to bolster the campaign. The purpose of hosting the campaign in the KNP is to reclaim the park of which 70% resides in the Limpopo province.

Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality was represented by Clr Tomson Nkuna who thanked LTA and the MEC for hosting the event in Phalaborwa. He said the municipality is happy with the progress made with the construction of an activity hub at Phalaborwa Gate by Sanparks which will increase the number of tourists visiting Phalaborwa. He reiterated the fact that 70% of the KNP is located in Limpopo with 30% in Mpumalanga.

LTA encouraged visitors to use access points to the park from Limpopo because of the warm winter temperatures. According to the LTA Board chairperson, Andrew Dipela, activities in the province should be buttressed by culture and heritage. “The purpose of the campaign includes positioning Limpopo as a leading tourist destination in Southern Africa in the winter months, developing and promoting various tour packages, and encouraging people to travel within the province,” he said.

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“We are inviting people to come to ‘the province with two summers’. This is a call for them to escape the cold winters in their respective provinces to Limpopo.” He said they also want to enhance stakeholder relations in the tourism industry both provincially and nationally through the campaign and that Phalaborwa also serves as the gateway to the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park through the Giriyondo border into Mozambique.

The Giriyondo border links South Africa and Mozambique using Ba-Phalaborwa as a suitable stopover. “The one area that we have to follow up on is the Phalaborwa Airport which can assist in boosting the number of tourists to the province. “We are now dependent on the Gateway Airport in Hoedspruit, which is privately managed,” he said. Ledet MEC Rodgers Monama said they are excited that there is progress on the construction of the activity hub at the Phalaborwa Gate of the KNP by Sanparks.

“Upon its completion, we are confident this will enhance the tourist numbers to our province,” Monama concluded.