The North West province is gearing up to place itself firmly on the destination map for both international and national tourists.

In an interview with the Department of Tourism’s North West MEC, Wendy Joy Nelson, at WTM Africa, Nelson told Tourism Update that the region will be working more closely with SA Tourism and local tourism stakeholders to grow the North West’s position as a tourism destination.

“We need to ensure that we look at the cultural and heritage roots in our province, and look at packaging those better,” said Nelson, “and guide our SMMEs on how to put those packages together”.

The MEC continued that “coming to shows like WTM Africa in Cape Town, where we have 13 exhibitors from the North West, is a good platform for us to share the offerings of the North West – which are far more than just Sun City”.

Nelson said that the North West administration will be meeting with the industry next week to discuss packages so that its SMMEs have products to market at Indaba.

“We need a more intense strategy with partners like SA Toursim,” added Nelson, “which has the infrastructure and resources that our region doesn’t. And align our strategy with SA Tourism’s vision – looking towards the greater 2030 goal”.

With the current administration wrapping up its term of service, Nelson says she wants to ensure that a proper handover is done to the next (fifth) administration, so that the work to promote the province and its tourism offerings can continue smoothly and constructively.