The Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) is excited to be taking part at this year’s Africa’s Travel Indaba scheduled to take place in Durban from 3 – 5 May 2022 after two years of absence due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mpumalanga will use this platform to promote the province as a preferred tourism destination. A number of products from the province like tour operators, accommodation establishments are exhibiting under the Mpumalanga stand.
“This is an exciting period for Mpumalanga to be able to take part in this trade show after being absent for two years due the COVID-19 pandemic. The tourism industry in the province and South Africa as a whole was hugely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and this has resulted in a number of tourism businesses in the province closing down. The closing down of these businesses has resulted in massive job losses and a negative impact on our various tourism offerings”, said Mr Mduduzi Vilakazi, Acting CEO of the MTPA.
“The Africa’s Travel Indaba presents us with an opportunity to recover from the devastations caused by Africa’s stories, your success”. Our tourism products are ready to interact with over 400 African exhibitors and 454 buyers, from 47 countries around the world. They are ready to do business and showcase their product offering to the world”, added Vilakazi.
The theme for this year “Africa’s stories, your success” aims to encourage media and delegates to tell the world of their own inspiring stories of resilience shown throughout the pandemic. Mpumalanga boasts an array of world-class products such as the Kruger National Park, Blyde River Canyon, Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains World Heritage Site, etc, and we are ready to share that with the world.
“We look forward to the inspiring stories from the Mpumalanga tourism products which will reaffirm our journey to recovery and see us receiving more tourists to the province and boost our economy. The newly established products that will be attending this trade show will further confirm that we have diversified our product offering which will afford tourists an opportunity to experience other districts of the province and explore what is on offer”, added Vilakazi.
The planned MOU signing ceremony between Mpumalanga, Eswatini and Mozambique with further reaffirm our commitment to promote regional tourism and the TRILAND route. We will be hosting tour operators from the three countries with the aim of promoting packages that will see us promote the TRILAND route.
The MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Mr Vusi Mkhatshwa is thrilled that the tourism industry is slowly coming back to life and recovering from the devastating effects of the COVID-19. The Mpumalanga delegation led by the MEC consists of tourism products including SMMEs from the three districts of the province, district municipalities as well as local media. We are delighted that this important international trade show will afford our tourism products an opportunity to position Mpumalanga to the world as a safe environment to do business.
