Ritsako Game Lodge aims to grow national tourism
The official opening of Ritsako Game Lodge attracted several guests from around the country on 24 November 2017.
LIMPOPO – Ritsako Game Lodge Director, Joseph Zinyana, said he believes the lodge will play a crucial role towards the national tourism and economy.
Zinyana made this statement during the official opening ceremony of the lodge at Hammanskraal last Friday. The official opening of the lodge attracted several guests from around the country.
Zinyana said the lodge is not only for him, but also to empower the surrounding communities, especially in Hammanskraal.
He said the lodge is an ongoing project and almost R35 million has been spent on the first phase.
“The project started late last year and is anticipated to be fully completed next month,” he said.
He said tourism is everyone’s business and therefore it should be supported as it plays an important role towards the country’s economy.
“Being closer to the N1 and located on the North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo borders will make it easy to have more tourists coming to the lodge,” he said.
Zinyana told CV that currently they have 16 employees and they look forward to bringing more job opportunities to local people.
“The area is about 200 km from Limpopo and 45 km from Johannesburg and we believe being in the middle of both capital cities will play a crucial role in terms of attracting more tourists,” he said.
He added another aim is to attract people and companies to come and enjoy functions, conferences and team building days at the lodge. “We believe the more tourists who come to our lodge, the more the country’s economy will grow,” he said.
Zinayana said: “This will also empower local small enterprises and help us to employ people from the community”.
The City of Tshwane Director for Trade Marketing in the tourism division, Hulisane Thabela, said tourism in the city is an important sector which creates a lot of employment.
“Tourism is something that can be done anywhere regardless of where you are and this new lodge is a good example of the ample business opportunities in the area,” said Thabela. She said the city supports tourism through its economic development division. “We do support SMME’s to stay on par with the necessary tools, skills and market access opportunities,” she said.
She said: “For a long time is has been the perception that tourism is only for rich people, but that is not true, within our city we run campaigns that seeks to encourage people to get out of their home and experience the city.”
