Great expectations for Lephalale/Mokopane tourism

LEPHALALE

Interviews started on Monday at the Lephalale tourism office for 200 young people in the Lephalale area to participate in a tourism learnership programme.
The Lephalale municipality was tasked last year to identify local youth who would be suited to work in the tourism industry. Students who handed in their CVs were interviewed on Monday.
The learnership is a pilot programme which will be tested in the Waterberg and Capricorn municipal areas. The idea is to place students at local tourism establishments to gain the necessary experience.
Lawrence Kgonyane from the Waterberg Municipality’s tourism department told members of the Lephalale tourism association at a meeting last week that there will be a drive on the part of the municipality to expand rural tourism in the area. “We want to see more tourists visit our rural areas and we aim to help the local community to learn the skills they need to establish tourism sites in these areas.
Kgonyane also called on the private sector to join hands with the Lephalale tourism association to ensure that tourism in the area flourish in the coming year.
Some of the tourism awareness campaigns planned for 2012 are the tourism Indaba in Durban in May where the Lephalale tourism association will be represented and guests to the Indaba will be introduced to the Waterberg. The Getaway show is specifically for South Africans who want to see as much as they can of South Africa, this is a great opportunity to market tourism in the Waterberg District. The Bushveld Festival remains one of the most important events on the calendar of the tourism association and they will again this year introduce visitors to the festival to the wonderful richness of the Waterberg.
Members of the tourism association and those who wish to become members are welcome to contact the tourism office on 014 763 1041 to participate in these marketing events.

MOKOPANE

Lesetja Daniel Koma is the new tourism development officer for the Mogalakwena municipal area. He was introduced at the Mogalakwena quarterly tourism cluster meeting in the Aboo Tayob community hall on Monday. Here owners of tourism related enterprises and the Mogalakwena municipality discussed and exchanged ideas to improve and boost tourism in the area.
Koma did a presentation on the new vision and mission of the tourism cluster. He wants tourism businesses to start a new forum where they will involve all product owners in and around Mokopane to send information on what they need in terms of marketing so that the municipality can help these business owners market Mokopane as a tourism destination.
“But to do this, Mogalakwena Municipality will need all product owners in Mokopane to work together with the municipality to get Mokopane on the map as a tourism destination,” Koma said.
Only about ten out of a possible 100 owners of tourism-related businesses in Mokopane attended the meeting. Those that were there suggested that Koma organise another meeting to which they will then bring as many other operaters as possible in the hope of getting them all involved in the new  forum. A new Tourism Cluster meeting is scheduled for May 3 at the Aboo Tayob community hall.