26/08/2021
LIMPOPO LAUNCHES TOURISM MONTH ACTIVITIES TO INSPIRE TRAVEL AND TOURISM!
LIMPOPO Tourism Agency (LTA) and Limpopo Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET) will partner with both National Department of Tourism (NDT) and South African Tourism (SAT) in driving tourism month 2021 through various activities and campaigns in celebrating Tourism Month. The central objective is to drive domestic tourism through raising awareness and in the process encouraging local people to travel and experience various tourism experiences. The World Tourism Day is annually celebrated worldwide on September 27 annually under a specific theme. This year, World Tourism Organization announced the theme “Tourism for inclusive growth”, under which Tourism Month will be celebrated.
The purpose of World Tourism Day is to foster awareness among the international community on the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value. The event seeks to address global challenges outlined in the United
Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and highlight the contribution the tourism sector can make in reaching these goals. Every year, UNWTO invites people of all ages and backgrounds to hold and take part in WTD celebrations in their respective countries or holiday destinations.
Within this broad context, it is imperative that the province and the country in general demonstrate the capacity for tourism to address challenges of unemployment and poverty. These challenges, compounded by the outbreak of COVID-19, are immediately felt by youth and women in general. During this year’s tourism month, it will be critical expose and unveil key tourism projects that respond to issues of unemployment.
“Tourism was and remains the hardest hit and affected by the outbreak of the COVID- 19 pandemic as it was the first to be closed during the hard lockdown and the last to open in August and September 2020. For that reason, the sector was the most affected and this will take some time for it to be back on its feet again. This meant that Government should come up with innovative ways of assisting the sector as other businesses would shut down due to lack of revenue. September as the beginning of Spring, should bring some hope to the sector that things will get better. While we will be celebrating tourism, we will need to be mindful that the pandemic is still with us. For that reason, we encourage all our people to adhere to all the Government stipulated protocols of regularly sanitizing our hands, wearing masks, and keeping social distance to keep the virus at bay, said the Acting CEO of LTA, Mr. Moses Ngobeni.
South Africa has chosen to convert this concept into a month-long celebration and thus named September, “Tourism Month”. Generally, a calendar of events is generated to encourage local travel to all citizens to know their country. It is through this celebration that most of the provincial special tour packages are developed and tested via different media and content creator tours that are undertaken.
The media launch to announce details of 2021 Tourism Month will be held on August 31 at Letebejane village’s Black Aloe Resort, Ga- Ragkgwadi.