Limpopo Tourism Agency (LTA) is aiming to increase tourism growth after fully recovering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We wish to thank the Department of Tourism and Limpopo Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET) for developing programmes to ensure that tourism recovery plans help put the industry back on its feet after the devastating pandemic. We are currently within the top three most-visited destinations in the country, and we are confident that the province will bounce back with time, gradually creeping to its usual number-one spot,” Mike Tauatsoala, Manager of Corporate Communications and PR at LTA told Tourism Update.

He added that Limpopo’s hospitality industry had also seen tremendous improvement and complete recovery, as tourism remained the highest employer among all sectors in the province.

Domestic and international visitors

As well as being ranked in the top-three most-visited destinations in the country following the pandemic, the province is now ranked sixth for international arrivals, which is dominated by African travellers.

The number of domestic trips was still higher than international arrivals, and the province was working on its airlift, with a strategy having been developed, said Tauatsoala.

While there are prospects of growing both domestic and international tourism to the province, Tauatsoala conceded that road infrastructure to some of the tourist attractions had not been in a good state for some time. “However, LTA and LEDET are in constant engagement with Roads Agency Limpopo to ensure that they are fixed.”

Events

The hosting of events continues to be an added contributor to the tourist numbers in the province, and LTA is partnering with several events to grow the sector.

One of the most established events was the recently concluded Mapungubwe Arts Festival, which had become a “must-attend” event for locals, said Tauatsoala.

“LTA is excited to partner with the event owners, the Limpopo Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, and we have been hard at work ensuring that we leverage the event to drive visitors to the spectacle, but also encouraging them to spend more and stay longer to experience more of what Limpopo has to offer. We believe the event can grow and be attended by a bigger number of SADC event lovers.”

Another flagship event in the province is the annual Limpopo Marula Festival, which takes place in Phalaborwa from April 28 until May 4.

Other events include the international golf tournament, Limpopo Championship, which will be held from April 1-7 at Euphoria Golf and Lifestyle Estate in Mookgophong.

MICE

LTA leveraged Meetings Africa to engage several buyers to visit Limpopo for meetings and incentives to grow business tourism in the province.

Despite the province not having a convention centre, LTA works with the private sector to bid for the hosting of small to medium events and meetings.

“Limpopo, as a favourable business events and sports tourism destination, will continue bidding for hosting major, local, and international events in the province,” Tauatsoala said.

LTA will also attend WTM Africa and Africa’s Travel Indaba in Cape Town and Durban respectively, as it aims to expose Limpopo's offerings to the African continent and the world.

“The objectives for attending these two important shows are to increase the tourist volumes, spend, and length of stay of arrivals into Limpopo.”

Marketing strategy

Tauatsoala believes that Limpopo has a huge competitive marketing advantage as it shares borders with three countries – Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

“This gives us a further advantage as we have two transfrontier parks, namely Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Park, shared with South Africa (Limpopo side), Botswana and Zimbabwe, and the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park between South Africa (Limpopo side) Zimbabwe and Mozambique.”

He further noted that its marketing campaigns for the four major tourist periods, namely Easter, winter, Tourism Month and summer, would help propel the province to greater heights as the agency had good working relations with the tourism industry.

“We have built a strong relationship with the industry, which is a strong building block towards tourism growth in the province, which will make a dent in the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality facing our province.”

Tauatsoala concluded that the LTA would also give priority to village tourism in its marketing efforts.