Tourism continues to play a major role in the economy of the Umzinyathi District Municipality.

The industry is said to be ‘an essential part of our effort to improve the quality of life of all our citizens, especially those who were deprived in the past,’ according to District Mayor, Petros Ngubane at the district’s first ever Tourism Excellence Awards, held in Glencoe recently.

This year, Umzinyathi has set aside R3-million to help boost various projects in the district, which stretches from Wasbank to Kranskop.

“We regard tourism as one of the district’s top economic drivers. As a district municipality, we want to enforce and encourage the youth and women to participate in the growing of our tourism sector. With these awards, we want our youth to know that it doesn’t matter which race or sexual orientation you are; you are important and will be celebrated if you do good for your district.”

The event was attended by local Mayors, traditional leaders and those active in the tourism industry.

“The Umzinyathi District, in the context of KwaZulu-Natal, is the second-poorest district in the province, but has been blessed to be able to produce amazing maskandi stalwarts like Mgqumeni and Mtshengiseni, who have passed on. This awards ceremony aims to recognise and pay tribute to our talented men and women for being the highly motivated, highly skilled and well-trained tourism ambassadors they are.

“We hope this session marks the beginning of many interactions to come and that through these, we will be able to dispose of the label of being one of the poorest municipalities in the country and be known as a municipality rich in culture.”

Cllr Ngubane added the district supported the tourism industry by supporting tourism institutional structures (community tourism organisations), developing tourism routes such as the Battlefields Route, supporting signature events which attract visitors (Msinga Driftkhana, Dundee July, Talana Live, commemoration of Battle of Isandlwana), developing tourist brochures and upgrading road signage.

He continued: “I want to especially encourage the youth – they are the future of this district and through tourism, a lot can be achieved. Through tourism we can achieve a lesser crime rate. I believe if people are occupied by something good and wholesome, they will most likely not engage in any bad situation. I therefore encourage our youth to take advantage of all these opportunities we are offering as a district.”

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