Mpumalanga Business 2018-19 edition

OVERVIEW
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.
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.
Other provincial plans regarding tourism involve promoting the
province as a convention venue (a Convention Bureau has been established
and the City of Mbombela is being encouraged to build a
large centre), adopting a strategy to attract international air links and
promoting links with foreign tourism authorities. On the final point,
Mpumalanga has started a partnership with the Ural Association of
Tourism in Russia whereby 10 tour operators from Mpumalanga visited
Yekaterinburg and a delegation from the Sverdlovsk region visited
the province.
New niches in old rocks
A three-billion-year-old micro-fossil found in the Makhonjwa Mountains
near Barberton and the border with Swaziland is thought to be the
oldest sign of life on the planet. Now the Makhonjwa Mountains,
themselves somewhere between 3.2-billion and 3.6-billion years
old, have been declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations
Educational‚ Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). The tourist
offering near Barberton has been branded the Genesis Route.
This brings to 10 the number of World Heritage Sites in South
Africa and opens up the possibility of a new type of niche tourism for
ONLINE RESOURCES
Graskop Gorge Lift Company:
http://graskopgorgeliftcompany.co.za
Lilizela Tourism Awards: www.lilizela.co.za
Mpumalanga Gaming Board: www.mgb.org.za
Mpumalanga Tourism & Parks Agency: www.mtpa.co.za
South African National Parks: www.sanparks.co.za
South African Tourism: www.southafrica.net
South African Tourism Services Association: www.satsa.com
Mpumalanga. In addition, funds
for conservation of the area will
be made available from the World
Heritage Fund.
Visitors to Graskop Gorge can
now drop 50m into the gorge
via a glass elevator which was
completed by Enza Construction
towards the end of 2017. Once
the R25-million Graskop Gorge
Tourism Attraction Centre is
complete (in the course of
2018), there will be a 200-seater
restaurant, an overhanging
veranda, a ticket office, space for
three curio shops and an area for
informal traders to sell their wares.
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.
Tsogo Sun has six hotels
in the province, ranging from
two StayEasys to Southern Sun
The Ridge, which is attached
to the Ridge Casino in Witbank
(Emalahleni). The Graceland
Hotel Casino and Country Club
in Secunda is a Peermont resort.
Protea Hotels by Marriott also
has six properties in Mpumalanga,
including Protea Hotel Kruger Gate
and Hazyview. At White River,
Premier Hotel The Winkler is just
20 minutes’ drive from the Numbi
Gate of the Kruger National Park.
Forever Resorts has a big presence
in the province, catering to
many caravans and campers and
holiday-makers wanting to stay
in chalets. There is also a four-star
Forever Resorts Mount Sheba.
53 MPUMALANGA BUSINESS 2018/19