Locals encouraged to consider tourism-related business

According to local tourism and marketing expert Ms Madembe Muvhulawa, residents should use opportunities presented by the Marula Festival to boost their own businesses.

With Louis Trichardt being quite a distance away from the heart of the festival in Phalaborwa this may seem irrelevant to locals, but both Madembe and the Limpopo Tourism Agency (LTA) say that opportunities exist for the whole region.

Figures issued by the LTA state that 30 000 visitors are attracted to the district over the two-week duration of Marula Festival’s activities and that approximately 10% of these are international guests. While in South Africa, they will tour around more than the Kruger National Park if they are offered reasons to do so.

At the launch of the festival, after announcing that the theme for the next five years would be ‘Discover the Wealth of Marula’, the chief executive officer of the LTA, Nomasonto Ndlovu, said that “…it is against this background that we would like to call upon the tourism industry to be creative and come up with appetising packages to be geared for the Marula season influx.” She said that the festival had inspired different thinking about what the province could do in relation to agritourism and that new celebrations were already being started, such as with mangos and the Magoebaskloof Berry Festival.

While tourists are tickled by the sight of tipsy elephants after the animals had harvested their own marulas, they also want to explore other sights, tastes, and experiences. Thinking outside of the box is therefore to be encouraged for entrepreneurs who want to use the resources in and around Louis Trichardt to build their businesses.

Madembe is a vocal supporter of local businesses that manage to tap into the multi-million-rand tourist trade. “The Marula Festival keeps growing with each year, bringing tourists from across the country and the SADEC region. As much as it is held in Phalaborwa, travellers take the opportunity to enjoy and discover attractions of the province. It therefore presents opportunities for tourism attractions which can leverage on the festival in creating offerings around the festival to begin with. Last year there was the Marula Golf Draw, which was a great platform for networking with both government and business executives for small businesses. There are also market stalls where our local business owners can showcase their products and services to the participants of the festival. One of Limpopo's greatest attractions is that we offer diverse tourism offerings with our different cultures and attractions. Our growth therefore depends on showcasing not only individual lodges and venues but our collective offerings as a province.”

As well as being one of only two grading assessors for the entire Vhembe District, together with Thiofhi Ravele, with the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa, Madembe owns and operates Wamadembe Tourism Projects where she does hospitality training, arranges tour packages as well as taking on promotion and consulting projects. Residents considering venturing into the tourist trade in any way are welcome to contact her on 082 760 5646 or email [email protected]

Date:23 February 2019

By: Jo Robinson

Jo joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in 2018 pursuing a career in journalism after many years of writing fiction and non-fiction for other sectors.

Read: 2999