Mpumalanga Business 2017-18 edition

OVERVIEW
Tourism
Tourism is a key strategic sector.
SECTOR INSIGHT
A Convention Bureau has
been launched.
• SA Airlink has daily flights
from Kruger Mpumalanga
International Airport to
five destinations.
More than 1.3-million tourists spent R3-billion in
Mpumalanga in 2015. The industry is a key strategic sector
for the growth of the provincial economy and the
creation of jobs.
The Provincial Government of Mpumalanga is looking for private
partners to invest in a range of ambitious projects to boost an already
active sector that has several superb tourism assets, ranging from the
iconic Kruger National Park (one of about 70 parks and reserves) to
bird-watching, music festivals, car rallies and casinos.
The provincial investment agency, MEGA, has packaged many
tourism investment opportunities. The underlying principle in each
case is a form of public-private partnership where the agency would
assist in getting land-use and other legal requirements, and perhaps
in seeing that basic infrastructure was laid on, then the developer
would build and manage a tourism facility.
Projects envisaged include a tourist wheel, a cable car, restaurants
and conference facility in Mbombela (Mandela Iconic Eye), the Blyde
River Tourism Cluster (a series of developments including a cable car,
a hotel, a restaurant and a skywalk) and an International Convention
Centre planned for the capital city of Mbombela. Priority projects
that have been registered with National Treasury are the sky walk,
the cable car and the establishment of a luxury hotel at Bourke’s Luck.
A transaction adviser has
been appointed to flesh out
these proposals for investable
tourism products. An example
of infrastructure investment from
the government’s side is the upgrading
of the Manyeleti Resort,
which is ongoing.
Although the province already
caters for motor-rally enthusiasts,
cyclists, runners, walkers, fishers,
horse-riders, tree-gliders, abseilers,
white-water rafters and rock
climbers, there is still tremendous
potential for more investment in
the ecotourism and adventure
tourism subsectors.
Action has also been taken in
trying to attract conferences and
exhibitions with the launch of a
provincial Convention Bureau.
There is a plan to turn the
Graskop Gorge on the Panorama
Tourist Route into an adventure
centre. A lift to transport visitors
into the gorge will open up escarpment
walks, river trails and
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