Mpumalanga has to reposition itself
MBOMBELA - The
Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism hosted a discussion on September 29 in an attempt to rejuvenate tourism in the Lowveld and Mpumalanga.
Oupa Pilane, chairperson of Kruger Lowveld Tourism, spoke at the event and pointed out various areas in the local tourism industry that can be improved on to ensure that more people are attracted to the province.
Pilane emphasised that more focus should be placed on domestic travellers. He said the recent influx of tourists over the long weekend of September 24 was something that has not been seen for a very long time, with the Graskop Gorge seeing numbers it has not since 2017.
“People were filling our tourism areas stretching from Mbombela and Komatipoort to Belfast. These people were from the domestic market. The backbone of tourism should always rely on the domestic market. We have become complacent when we were relying on the international market only,” he said.
Pilane said local tourism operators have become used to the formality that is associated with the international market, but the emergence of this new local market has shown that even the lowest-earning community members have started travelling.
“These people want to go and have a picnic or a braai on the Panorama Route, and that (picnic sites) is something we do not have enough of. These people then go on to buy meat and drinks in local towns, but locals get annoyed with them.
“We need a campaign to encourage sustainable tourism to educate people on how to protect and keep areas clean in order to enjoy that picnic site in future.”
According to him, it should be easier for people to become trained tour operators. He said taxis have started driving tourists around. When these taxis get into accidents with tourists aboard it could have serious implications.
“We need to assist people like taxi drivers to become part of the tourism industry if they wish to do so.”
Pilane said the province needed to be repositioned and marketed well. “People always ask what they can do in Mpumalanga besides wildlife. Young people want to do adventurous things. That is the domestic market we should cater to.”
He added that roads should be upgraded as bad roads were hampering efforts for tourism recovery.