BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE – Eswatini stands to get good reviews as they have revived over five tour operators.
The Tour operators are here to tour Eswatini and its places of interest. This tour will be done in region segments with the first tour having been done at Hlane National Royal Park.
This was revealed by Eswatini Tourism Authority (ETA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Linda Nxumalo who said their main aim with the tour operators was to show off the country.
She said the Government had given them a task, where over 2 million tourist where expected to have visited Eswatini, she said they were working hard to reach and surpass the given target.
“We are trying to show off the true picture if Eswatini which is peace. We wanted to shut off the naysayers who painted Eswatini as violent country. The tour operators were taken to almost all parts of the country and they were overly impressed,” said Nxumalo.
She further thanked Eswatini Air for transporting the tour operators, an experience. When further highlighting she said the tour operators were fairly impressed with the country.
She added that over and above that, the tourism sector has been identified as a strategic pillar in the country’s economic recovery. Therefore, they have had to set new targets to meet the growing demands and changes in tourism.
“In this regard, rethinking Tourism is a call to reinvent and reinvest in our industry. This is why the ETA has been intentional about pursuing cooperative marketing initiatives that also focus on empowering the youth who are the future of our Industry’s sustainability and success,” said Nxumalo.
In addition, she said a brilliant example of this is the recently-revived Triland Agreement which has put local tour operators at the forefront of Eswatini marketing efforts for their proven ability to package Destination Eswatini to the domestic and regional markets.
Triland is a tourism initiative spearheaded by the Governments of Eswatini, Mozambique, and Mpumalanga Province that seeks to promote cooperation on the positioning of Triland as a preferred tourism, trade, and investment destination,” said the CEO.
“We implore all stakeholders to leverage this opportunity in re-engaging our key source markets, South Africa, and Mozambique. The ETA applauds the remarkable efforts made by the HOTAES for applying the utmost dedication, sheer resilience, and admirable creativity in expanding Eswatini’s tourism product offerings,” she said.
