LYDENBURG – The Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism held a meeting on March 24 in Mbombela with the objective of establishing a collaborative partnership between the several chambers in the Lowveld.
Mr Leon de Jager of the Lydenburg/Mashishing Business Chamber was elected as a member of the Kruger Lowveld Business Forum established during the meeting.
According to De Jager he is very excited about this development and is keen to work with his colleagues in building partnerships and networks, sharing information and knowledge and establishing a cooperation agreement among chambers and local tourist organisations within the Kruger Lowveld Region.
During the meeting the following issues were identified as the big challenges within the region: poor service delivery by municipalities, poor condition of the roads in the region and in most towns, poor state of most public attractions and reserves (lack of maintenance and elevation) and finding a permanent solution for Pilgrim’s Rest.
The issues relating to the awarding of the business licences, the maintenance of the Historic town and the safety of tourists were álso identified as main concerns.
This forum intends to be successful by focusing on creating a compelling vision that motivates commitment, to foster joint ownership and responsibility, facilitate win-win solutions and translate divergent perspectives.
It would also like to encourage input and participation by embracing diversity and differences through effective communication and to see conflict as an opportunity for innovation.
The forum will engage with the various provincial government departments to address the challenges and to ensure that the Lowveld again becomes the destination of choice of local and international tourists.
