BY KWANELE TSABEDZE
MBABANE – The Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Moses Vilakati, launched the 2022 festive tourism season campaign on Wednesday, 2 November 2022.
The campaign will be conducted by the Eswatini Tourism Authority (ETA), which is a parastatal under the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs. During the launch of the 2022 festive season campaign, the ETA revealed that they are hosting competitions to promote tourism in Eswatini. The aim of the competitions is to encourage emaSwati to tour Eswatini, as well as attract foreign tourists as well.
According to ETA Communications Officer Phiwokuhle Dhlamini, the competitions are targeted at four kinds of travelers – the family, friends, couples, as well as pensioners. To stand a chance to win, participants are to tour Eswatini and then post their excursions on social media with the hashtags designated for the campaign.
Speaking at the launch, the Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs commended the partnerships which are happening between all the players and stakeholders in tourism, with a goal to market Eswatini.
“When you visit other countries, you find the packages already displayed at the airport, and you quickly become aware of the different sights you can see. What makes me happy today is that we’ve partnered with the radio, the television channel, and hotels to make sure that the people know about all their tourism options – that is what is important,” said the minister.
He also noted that Eswatini has a difficult time marketing itself according to its potential. The minister’s sentiments were acknowledged by ETA Head of Marketing Siboniso Madlopha, who revealed that the ETA is exploring new methods of observing the industry and gathering data to use for strategizing.
“We have let out a few hashtags, so that we can collect all data and information about the campaign. So when you go online and post, make sure that you use these tags. The first one is #ChooseEswatini,” said Madlopha.
He went on to reveal that the second hashtag is #PholaEswatini, and the third one as #NgcebelekaEswatini. He emphasised that they hope to connect with the public and increase tourism numbers this festive season as compared to last year.
“We are inviting all of us to come and choose Eswatini this festive season, explore as families, explore Eswatini as friends, explore as couples, and also explore with our parents. Make sure that you visit places where you can bring something back home,” said Madlopha.
According to the ETA, 45 898 foreign tourists visited Eswatini in November and December 2021.
