Scenic route: The Mapungubwe National Park is one of the jewels in Limpopo’s crown when it comes to natural beauty and wildlife.
The scenic R71 road from Polokwane to Tzaneen drops 600m down the Magoebaskloof escarpment in sweet, gentle curves for just over 6km. In some parts the road twists into sharp angles, as if the engineers did this deliberately to give motorists a hair-raising adrenaline rush.
Lush subtropical vegetation hangs invitingly close to the road, which is often buried under a thick layer of mist in the early mornings and at dusk, imbuing the area with a mystic aura. Magoebaskloof, just 77km east of the Limpopo provincial and commercial capital Polokwane, is a jewel in the province’s tourist destination crown. Set in the awesome scenery of the Drakensberg mountain range, it is in fact the province’s adventure capital.
Both local and foreign tourists flock to this haven to indulge in hiking trails, mountain biking, fishing, birding and abseiling. Others visit simply to be seduced by its scenic beauty.
Although Limpopo is blessed with spectacular landscapes where rivers tumble down great gorges and wildlife thrives in the veld as it has for hundreds of years, the province struggles to topple Cape Town, Mpumalanga and Gauteng as the country’s premier tourist destination.
But efforts are underway to turn the tide said Ndumiso Matlala, chief executive of the Limpopo Tourism Agency (LTA). The agency was restructured by premier Chupu Stanley Mathabatha during this financial year, and now has the challenging task of marketing the province as the destination of choice to local and foreign markets.
In his state of the province address Mathabatha said the tourism sector remained one of the strategic economic competitive advantages for the province, and that it had recorded a steady growth despite the prevailing economic challenges. Matlala said they are on course to take Limpopo to the top. “We are the Mercedes Benz [of tourism],” he told the Mail & Guardian ahead of the Limpopo Economic Development Summit in Polokwane recently. “But people don’t realise that. They think that we are just a [VW] Golf.”
The provincial treasury has allocated a marketing budget of R30-million to the LTA for the current financial year. Matlala said the level of marketing by the LTA in the past few years was not at a satisfactory level. “If you don’t do marketing sufficiently, obviously people won’t know much about you,” he said.
Limpopo is home to two Unesco World Heritage sites: the historic Mapungubwe National Park and the Makapans Valley. It is also home to the only savannah biosphere reserve in southern Africa — the Waterberg Biosphere Reserve — which is also on the list of Unesco’s protected sites. Another interesting and often ignored fact is that at least 50% of the renowned Kruger National Park is actually located in Limpopo province, which is also blessed with a rich culture of history, music and arts in its picturesque rural villages and peri-urban settlements.
Matlala said they are also working on reviving their marketing offices internationally as part of a renewed and aggressive strategy to sell the Limpopo brand. Earlier this year, the LTA invited and hosted international tour guides to the province in a bid to entice more visitors. Last month, the agency bought advertising space on billboards during the biggest sporting event in the country, the Soweto derby, which was played before a crowd of 80 000 in Johannesburg and watched by an audience of millions.
On Saturday, November 12 the province played host to the Fifa World Cup qualifying match between the national football team Bafana Bafana and West African giants Senegal. This is part of a broader strategy to boost its image as a host of major international events.
The province already attracts thousands of visitors to its premier events such as the Mapungubwe Arts Festival, with a line-up that includes top international acts. The annual Marula Festival injects an estimated R100-million into the provincial economy each year, said Matlala.
Although it doesn’t have the capacity to compete with the likes of KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape and Gauteng in hosting international conventions, Limpopo boasts the highest number of religious tourists in the country. The province is home to the Zion Christian Church based at Zion City Moria, just 40km from Polokwane. Every month hundreds of thousands make their way to Moria for spiritual healing and prayer. The biggest event on the church’s calendar is the annual Easter pilgrimage, which attracts an estimated three million people.
The Legend Golf and Safari resort in the Waterberg has a unique 19-hole course, which has become a firm favourite among golfing enthusiasts, who travel from afar to tee off in the stunning mountainous landscape.
Matlala is hopeful that the continued exposure of Limpopo’s potential by the LTA’s marketing drive will bear fruit in about three years, the time it normally takes for potential tourists to respond to attempts to lure them to certain destinations.
Despite the tough economic times, the World Tourism Association forecasts better prospects for the sector all over the world, including South Africa and Limpopo. “Global research shows tourism is not only a growing sector. It will continue to grow despite all other factors that threaten the world economy. It’s so resilient that it will survive terrorism and economic decline. More and more people are waking up to the pleasures and benefits of travel,” said Matlala.
While the tourism sector is expected like other arms of the economy to help create jobs and eradicate poverty, Matlala argued that agencies like the LTA should not necessarily be viewed as organisations responsible for creating jobs. “Government should not be in the business of actually creating jobs. We should in the business of creating an enabling environment, facilitating investment and activities that will lead to jobs,” he said. But he acknowledges the sector also plays a huge role in job creation. “Tourism numbers should increase to help sustain jobs and establish new operations,” he said.
Historically mining has been the province’s top earner, followed by agriculture and tourism. But mining is in decline and agriculture has hit tough times as a result of the devastating drought of the past few years. However, Matlala said the drought has not impacted on tourism, game hunting and game breeding, all of which are massive contributors to the province’s economy.