Authorities promote tourism at border posts over Easter weekend
Motorists heading into South Africa from Mozambique and Swaziland were welcomed with a map of the Ehlanzeni district, local attractions and other tourism information over the Easter holidays.
KOMATIPOORT – Motorists and passengers heading into South Africa via the Lebombo Border Post on Thursday found more reasons to visit the country and perhaps even stay longer.
The Ehlanzeni District Municipality’s local economic development and tourism unit and representatives of the Nkomazi Local Municipality handed out maps, Lowveld Media’s Holiday Guide supplement and other tourism information as part of a drive to boost tourism in the region.
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The group visited the Jeppes Reef border post on Wednesday to do the same there and interact with visitors to the Matsamo Cultural Village, one of the area’s biggest tourist attractions.
According to Nathi Masango, the cultural village draws many visitors visiting eSwatini or the Lowveld and is on the route of several tourism operators.
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He said that the aim of the campaign was to not only give people a map of the region, but also to promote local businesses by giving people information on where to stay or eat and things to see and do. “We want to draw people to stay in the Lowveld for at least a day,” he explained.
Masango agreed that tourism is a growing industry and said that Ehlanzeni does a lot of marketing at fairs and tourism gatherings across the country like the Tourism Indaba, World Travel Market Africa and Swaziland Trade Market.
“We need to grow tourism between South Africa and Swaziland and let tourists know about all of the attractions besides the Kruger National Park in the region,” he said.
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According to Masango, authorities have discussed the various issues preventing tourism growth, such as potholes and other infrastructure problems, strikes (especially in the Hazyview area) and corrupt traffic officials operating along known tourist routes. Government and local tourism organisations are working together to find ways to solve and manage these issues.
In an effort to promote and expand the tourism industry in Nkomazi, the business chambers in Malalane and Komatipoort have invited the Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism (KLCBT) to talk about tourism in the area and practical ways to establish new attractions during their monthly meeting tomorrow (Thursday) at Riverview Inn in Malalane at 12:00. Read about it in next week’s edition.
