The MEC for finance, economic development and tourism, Vusi Mkhatshwa, has argued that tourism is a major economic driver and continues to fuel economic growth and job creation.
He mentioned this during the Tourism Month launch held at Emfuleni Park on Monday September 5, under the theme “Rethinking tourism”.
ALSO READ: Mpumalanga cabinet reshuffle on the cards
According to him, this year’s theme is focused on reigniting the sector.
“As we continue to gather in large numbers, we are confident that this sector will continue to see a steady rebound and rejuvenation of business events. The Tourism Month celebrations afford us an opportunity to recognise how far we have come as the sector in spite the negative impact of Covid-19 in the last few years, and how hard we have worked to rebuild. As an industry, we have placed more focused approaches on domestic tourism, engaging and collaborating as the greater tourism sector to grow domestic tourism.”
The acting CEO of MTPA, Mduduzi Vilakazi, said they will use Tourism Month as a way to showcase various tourism offerings in the province.
“We will be hosting a number of activations in various townships around the province, as well as at our tourism attractions, to showcase the tourism offerings.
We will be embarking on the annual Parks’ Week from September 12 to15, during which locals will be afforded an opportunity to visit 10 of our selected nature reserves for free. This will also include an opportunity for primary school learners to be hosted on a day’s visit to our nature reserves.”
ALSO READ: The Citizens bully The Rockets on home ground in Mbombela
He highlighted that this September, the agency will focus more on rolling out awareness campaigns on the importance of tourism. “We will host awareness campaigns to educate our communities on the importance of realising that this sector is everyone’s business and requires that we work together to provide a safe environment. This will include collaborations with the private sector to ensure that we all speak in one voice when promoting destination Mpumalanga,” he explained.