Tshwane tourism on a growth curve
More than 70 members of the Tshwane Tourism Association exhibited at a showcase and used the occasion to network to optimise industry and business growth.
Tourism in Tshwane is growing and has returned to the pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels.
This is the opinion of one of the members of the Tshwane Tourism Association (TTA), Marina Toerien of Mongena Private Game Lodge in Dinokeng, who exhibited their establishment during TTA’s sixth showcase.
“We have a long association with the TTA and a showcase like this is a wonderful opportunity for us to kick off the marketing year,” said Toerien.
“We had much growth in our international customer base last year and we are looking to capitalise on that. To most tourists, it is still all about seeing the Big Five and that is why we can streamline our marketing with the association’s marketing focus of ‘The Wildest Capital on Earth’.
The showcase was held on January 22 at the conference centre of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
Lily-Anne Waldeck of Ritsako Game Lodge agreed with Toerien regarding the growth in the industry.
“This has already been a very busy January for us with much growth in the corporate market with companies doing bookings earlier than usual in the year.”
TTA chairperson Nico Rowan gave an overview of the association’s activities for 2024.
His focus was on the successful distribution of the marketing tool of the association, the Official Tshwane Guide and he mentioned the guide has been distributed to more than 300 popular tourism outlets.
To Rowan, collaboration is the key to growing tourism in Tshwane.
“The magic ignites when you start taking hands in this industry,” said Rowan.
He mentioned that a memorandum of understanding has been signed with the metro to benefit the industry and meetings have been held with the MMC for safety as well as the National Tourism Sector Forum to put the interests of members first.
Safety is an aspect that has been the focus in 2024 of deputy chairperson, Susan Marais, who gave feedback on the implementation of the safety app that the TTA advises members to use.
She recommended members to sign their staff onto the app as a safety measure and to also recommend the app to their visitors and tourists.
Marais announced that 2026 is an important celebratory year for the association.
“We will then celebrate our 25th year as an association working in the industry for members. We will celebrate this with the first-ever tourism awards to members in different categories at a celebratory gala. It will be 25 years that we have brought industry players together,” said Marais.
She confirmed the awards will be awarded already in 2025 and give members “bragging rights”.
The keynote speaker Dimakatso Malwela, a well-known tourism expert, spoke to the appreciating audience about ways to unlock tourism potential.
She believes that Africa, as such, should be profiled as a premier destination.
Two of the markets she encouraged members to develop are the wellness tourism market as well as the Halaal market.
“With both, there is a growing demand. Lots of training opportunities for yourself and staff are also available in these two markets,” said Malwela.
Like Rowan, she believes that collaboration is key to growing the industry. She advised members who are on small budgets to see in which ways they can collaborate.
“If you don’t have money, partner! You can always add something from another industry source to your offering. Don’t let your four-star become a no-star through lack of unlocking opportunities,” said Malwela.
She also encouraged members to think about expansion into Africa if they have a successful product or formula.
“The South African brand is well-established in the rest of Africa and immediately recognised as a brand of excellence in our industry. Capitalise on this. Because you are a South African, you already have a brand to hitch onto.”
Click here to see a video of the showcase:
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