Limpopo Province continues to be one of the major recipients of tourism arrivals from South Africa’s core international markets given its broad tourism product offerings and appeal. Before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Limpopo Province was the leading destination in terms of arrivals and spend in the domestic tourism space.
The most recent statistical release by Statistics South Africa shows that in 2020 the Eastern Cape received 18.2% and became the most-visited destination for overnight trips followed by Limpopo with 18.0%.
In 2021, the most-visited province was Limpopo with 20.3% followed by Gauteng at 15.1%. The report also states that Limpopo continued to be the leading province in the first 10 months of the year in which the report was compiled, 2022.
This speedy recovery can be attributed to the partnership efforts that the Limpopo Tourism Agency (LTA) embarked on with the private sector. This initiative continues to provide visitors to destination Limpopo with the memorable experiences that they will treasure for a long time.
This was perfectly in line with the Agency’s vision of becoming a leading tourism destination in Southern Africa.
Tourism mandate
The LTA’s mandate is to carry out destination marketing with an emphasis on domestic tourism and inbound tourism marketing until things have completely returned to normality.
The LTA falls under the Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET) and aims to position Limpopo as a leading tourism destination in Southern Africa. The Agency’s strategic outcomes are:
- effective and efficient administrative support in the organisation
- to provide efficient and effective human resources support services
- to provide efficient and effective finance and support services
- to initiate product development, tourism investment, strategic partnerships and provide quality hospitality services
- to position Limpopo as a leading tourism destination in Southern Africa
The Limpopo Marula Festival has proved a great success over the years, not only drawing international audiences but promoting local culture and small businesses.
Clusters
Planning that has been done within the LTA is aligned to the National Tourism Sector Strategy (NTSS), the Limpopo Tourism Growth Strategy (LTGS) and the Limpopo Development Plan.
For the purposes of achieving its vision of making Limpopo a leading tourism destination in Southern Africa, LTA reviewed its clusters, bearing in mind the unique wildlife offerings in the mega-conservation areas of the province. The tourism clusters are as follows:
- Culture and Heritage Cluster
- Family and Recreation Cluster
- Sport and Wildlife Cluster
- Safari and Hunting Cluster
- Business and Events Cluster
- Special Interest Cluster
- Events key to tourism
LTA has identified events in the province as key to driving people from one place to another.
Key flagship events in the province include the following:
- Limpopo Golf Championship in April 2023. Linked to this was the Youth Golf Championship that took place on 29 June 2023 at Koro Creek, Modimolle.
- Partnerships with all existing events in the province such as Limpopo Marula Festival that took place in April 2023 in Phalaborwa.
- The Agency participated in trade shows such as World Travel Market (WTM) Africa in April 2023, Cape Town, followed by Africa’s Travel Indaba in May 2023 in Durban.
- LTA hosted Limpopo Tourism Youth Summit in Burgersfort on 22-23 June 2023.
- LTA participated in the national launch of Tourism Month on 1 August 2023 in North West Province. The provincial launch of World Tourism Day took place on 16 August 2023 in the Waterberg District.
- Phalaphala FM Royal Heritage Festival in Vhembe District.
- Mapungubwe Cultural Festival in to be held in Polokwane in December 2023.
- Summer Campaign launch and concomitant activations.
- Holiday Fair on 24-26 August 2023.
- Other events in various districts of the province.
Limpopo awaits with more to enjoy
Limpopo Tourism Agency Chief Executive Officer, Moses Ngobeni, is confident that investors will find much to inspire them in Limpopo.
Our province is the northmost in the country with several competitive advantages including sharing borders with three countries in the SADC region, that is, Botswana in the west, Zimbabwe in the north and Mozambique in the east. To optimise this opportunity, the province became innovative by introducing two transfrontier parks, namely, Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Park involving Limpopo, Botswana and Zimbabwe and Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park involving Limpopo, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
Tourism in Limpopo is progressing well despite having been under stress over the past three years due to Covid-19. It is heartwarming to see the tremendous progress that the sector displayed shortly after the difficult times of the pandemic. We are grateful for the resilience shown by the tourism industry and we wish to thank government for the Tourism Sector Recovery Plan that was developed for the tourism sector.
The province is currently ranked within the top three in the country on a domestic tourism front. We are looking forward to the new statistics by Stats SA come the end of the festive season.
The Limpopo Tourism Agency (LTA) has since taken a strong stance in collaborating with key stakeholders as that is central to tourism development and growth. It is against this background that we partner with major events as these not only drive people to our province but also because these events help to address the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality which are the ills continuing to torment the people of our province. Some of the mega events in the province come with tangible deliverables to rid the people of the burden of poverty.
With the Limpopo Provincial Investment Conference coming our way in October 2023, we are confident that most investors will choose Limpopo for tourism investment as there are many opportunities. We say this because tourism has multiplier effects with a myriad of opportunities and trade beneficiation.
Limpopo is ready for the increase in visitors through air access, given the good relations with Eastgate Airport in Hoedspruit that can get four airlines per day and Polokwane International Airport which is also on a growth trajectory with three airlines per day. We can’t wait to see the speed train between Gauteng and Limpopo, which is the brainchild of our Premier, Mr Chupu Stanley Mathabatha, and the Premier of Gauteng, Mr Panyaza Lesufi. This will bring some relief to our roads which are congested during long weekends and holidays.
Upcoming events include the Summer Campaign that will be launched in and around this October. This will come with packages for the citizens in the province and beyond to enjoy. Some of the activities include but are not limited to the annual Sapa Yopa Rally, Women in Sports Awards, National Celebration of Reconciliation Day and Mapungubwe Arts Festival.
