… Eswatini charms featured in publications across Europe
BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE– The extensive positive coverage of Eswatini’s charms as a tourist destination has continued, with a number of great features in key publications across Europe.
This March, a wonderful and comprehensive 12-page article by travel writer Sabrina Gaudio has been published in the prestigious Lonely Planet magazine in The Netherlands.
Sabrina was blown away by her experiences in Eswatini when she visited in late 2022 as a guest of the Eswatini Tourism Authority (ETA).
As is so often the case, she was very pleasantly surprised by the variety she discovered in the Kingdom. She went on to praise the country’s ambiance.
“What Eswatini lacks in size, it makes up for with breath-taking nature, an extensive range of activities, and an incredible amount of wildlife. In fact, Eswatini offers perhaps the most magical wildlife experience ever coming face to face with a rhinoceros,” she said.
The feature she wrote is accompanied by Sabrina’s beautiful photography and includes a detailed fact box covering all the places she visited and stayed at, plus a credit to Ja Afrika, the Dutch tour operator who has first-hand knowledge of Eswatini and who organised Sabrina’s travel to Eswatini.
Lonely Planet is perhaps the biggest global brand in travel publishing and in 2020 they named Eswatini as one of their best travel top countries to visit.
Sabrina said the pandemic disrupted the impact of that great accolade, but now that international travel is up and running again.
“All the reasons that Eswatini is showered with praise in articles and features like this are still there for its visitors to discover and enjoy.
“Sadly, the current edition of the Lonely Planet Magazine in The Netherlands, complete with its Eswatini feature, will be the last one printed. As such, of course, it’s likely to be highly sought-after, even a collector’s item,” she said.
Worth noting is that across the eight pages, they are accompanied by wonderful photographs, taken by Jonathan who has covered many of Eswatini’s diverse tourist attractions, including the famous Umhlanga Reed Dance that he was lucky enough to attend during his visit.
Like Sabrina, Jonathan also highlighted that, although Eswatini is not widely known as a tourist destination, it is actually home to all that a visitor to Africa needs.
“There is almost everything to experience that you can expect from an African trip, beautiful views, thrilling cultural events and a lot of excellent safari parks.
“As Eswatini and its tourist industry re-open and emerge after the lockdowns, it is really encouraging to see the number of widely travelled and experienced travel writers and travel publications that have been keen to alert their readers to the unique and varied charms of the Kingdom,” said Jonathan.
With travelers around the world being encouraged and recommended to visit and discover Eswatini’s attractions, 2023 is set to be a great year for tourism across the country.
Meanwhile, ETA is showcasing the Kingdom of Eswatini’s diverse range of unique tourism experiences.
The team is attending ITB Berlin, at Hall 21A, Stand No.129 in Berlin, Germany.
When speaking on the visit one of the team members said they have had great engagements with tour operators and journalists from Germany, France, the Netherlands, the UK, Spain, Portugal, Norway, the USA, Belgium, Hungary, and so many more countries. “We also had the pleasure of attending the Hilton Africa breakfast event in central Berlin discussing Hilton Garden Inn Mbabane and tourism in Eswatini with the Hilton VP for Africa and the Indian Ocean,” said the team member.
