Driving people to discover SA
Tyobeka promotes beauty of country
Growing up in a rural area, Khosi Tyobeka could never get enough of the beauty of nature that surrounded her.
She wondered how people could leave the countryside, with all its marvel, to live in the cities. This curiosity drove the 35-year-old from Welverdiendt, near Rustenburg, North West, to start a travel business that has now earned her accolades.
Tyobeka, who owns Zimasa Travel, a destination management company and tour operator, was awarded the provincial MEC’s special Lilizela award for 2018 last week for her dedication. North West MEC for tourism Desbo Mohono said the awards were meant to honour the best of the best and motivate the industry to be competitive.
Tyobeka provides tours around the country. She started her company in 2016 and it now covers the entire country.
“I have always had the love for tourism. I was inquisitive about certain parts of the world and always wanted to see myself there, just to explore and learn on how other people live and celebrate their lives,” she said.
Before entering tourism, Tyobeka was marketing director at North West FM. She said starting her own business was not easy, but she managed to get it to where it is now through her personality and charm.
Tyobeka said touring the country was her passion. She started off by providing shuttle transfers. “It started off like that but not knowing the bigger structure of the business.
“I structured everything and told myself that this was where I wanted to position my business so that it can do travel management and create tours for people,” she said.
She does not only market her business in SA. She recently attended a trade show in London to promote the business. “We are working with international clients because we want to capture them with SA’s beauty,” she said.
Her wish is to promote areas like the North West that people never think of as holiday destinations. “People do not know that there is such beauty in those areas, we try to say to people, hey there are hidden gems in the North West that you haven’t seen, go and explore,” she said.