Pictured during the visit of Elundini Tourism officials to Msunduzi Tourism are
(from left) George Oliphant from Msunduzi’s Arts Project; director for Msunduzi
Pietermaritzburg Tourism, Dumisani Mhlongo; Eunice Majola, chairperson of the
Economic Development Portfolio Committee in Msunduzi, Elundini Tourism delegates
Phindile Sobhuzo, Siphokazi Marada, Luandila Dube, Thabathani Thsaka; and
Msunduzi PMB Tourism host Sdu Ndlovu.
TOURISM officials from the Elundini Municipality on Friday visited
Msunduzi to take several pages from Pietermaritzburg’s book on how to expand
tourism events in the Eastern Cape.
For as Elundeni tourism co-ordinator Siphokazi Marada told The
Witness, KZN’s capital currently sets the standard for land-locked cities
when it comes to hosting and managing tourism events.
“We looked around at other towns to benchmark ourselves, but found
most towns did not even have functioning tourism boards.
“But Msunduzi tourism board is not just fully functional, they have
a strategy we can learn from and a beautiful building for their tourism hub. We
came here to learn because this is the standard we can strive towards.”
Elundini's Thabathani Thsaka said his tour guide operation offered trips to ancient San rock art.
His colleague on the Elundini tourism board Phindile Sobhuzo said the area had many crafters making not only art but also fashion.
Msunduzi Pietermaritzburg Tourism director Dumisani Mhlongo said
the association was happy to co-operate over the long term with Elundini
(Maclear and Ugie), which is best known for its ancient San rock art.
“Sharing information promotes our philosophy, which is that the
whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set
foot on one’s own country as a foreign land,” Mhlongo said.
He added the Elundini Tourism delegates had learnt a lot from
Msunduzi in terms of community tourism structures and skills development to
assist with transformation of this industry, which he said still lags behind
after 20 years of democracy. The Elundini delegation also briefly met with
Msunduzi’s chairperson of the Economic Development Portfolio Committee Eunice
Majola.
