Why belong to a Local tourism Organization?
Mpumalanga has a well-established and vibrant tourism industry, and the Loskop Leisure Route (Steve Tshwete Municipal area) forms another vital part of the industry.
As a halfway stop to Kruger Park, it gives us the advantage to capitalize on those tourists to generate our Region’s income. The collective product owners in the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality
should grow our tourism specific attractions. Critical mass will give us the momentum to achieve our goal.
Here are a few key focus areas of the Middelburg Local Tourism Organisation (part of the Middelburg Chamber):
- Manage the local area’s Information Office(s) and feed into the provincial information system.
- Receive and channel applications for local road signs from members to the municipality.
- Encourage tourists to visit the destination and experience what it has to offer.
- Encourage and develop ways in which a community can be more aware of and be skilled in tourism so that members of the community treat tourists suitably.
- Represent members and encourage product owners to join organized RTO’s and LTO’s to create a coordinated point of dialogue and realize the economic benefits that tourism can bring to a locality and ensure inclusiveness in the sector.
- Are in touch with, input into, and are represented in the local, district, and provincial tourism planning, e.g. through IDP process and Provincial Tourism planning processes.
- Coordinate tourism projects that rejuvenate and upgrade public tourism attractions and sites, poverty alleviation projects, and capacity building.
- Assist with the establishment of new LTO’s where required.
- Develop virtual networks and other methods to disseminate tourism information about the destination.
- Play a meaningful role in destination marketing, events promotion, etc., for the locality.
- Create and maintain relationships with other RTO’s, LTO’s, industry associations/organizations, local and district municipalities, and provincial government.
- Keep a general watch over tourism development requirements, statistics, and tourism product/plant in their Region and share it with the government as and when requested.
It is essential to belong to an LTO as it is the stepping stone to growing and developing tourism in our Region. For more information regarding affiliating with your Local Tourism Organization,
you can contact the Information Centre on 013 243 2253 or email us at reservations@midelburginfo.com