Limpopo; Polokwane: Today marks the 44rd anniversary of the World Tourism Day (WTD) Celebrations since its inception in 1980, when the festivities were first observed by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Limpopo Tourism Agency (LTA) will be represented by its Company Secretary, Mr. Thapelo Kotsedi, standing in for the CEO, Mr. Moses Ngobeni, and the Head of Corporate Communications & PR, Mr. Mike Tauatsoala. This year’s celebrations will take place in the Northern Cape outside the small town of Carnarvon with the launch of Astro Tourism Strategy on the 26th September 2024 as a precursor.
Celebrated every September 27 around the world, the purpose of World Tourism Day is to foster awareness among the international community on the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political, and economic value. The purpose of this day is to highlight South Africa’s diverse offerings to the nation. The event further seeks to address global challenges outlined in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) while highlighting the contribution the tourism sector can make in realizing these goals. Every year, United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) invites people of all ages and backgrounds to hold and take part in World Tourism Day (WTD) celebrations in their respective countries.
In her address on the 20th August 2024, the Minister of Tourism, Ms. Patricia de Lille, said, “Very exciting for me is that this province is leading South Africa’s proactive stance in leveraging the significant advances made in the development of the world’s largest space telescope array, with a comprehensive astro-tourism strategy. It is for this reason that we chose this site to be the focus of our official World Tourism Day celebration here in the Northern Cape on 27 September 2024”.
De Lille further said, “There are immense opportunities for Astro Tourism in South Africa and especially in the Northern Cape and this is why we were intentional about selecting this province and the town of Carnarvon”.
This year’s theme as coined by United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is, “Tourism and Peace”, which was customized to suit the South African context to read, “30 years of connecting people to places and cultures” under which Tourism Month is celebrated.
The Acting CEO of the LTA, Mr. Thapelo Kotsedi, has emphasized the importance of people travelling their own localities as that will make a huge contribution to the economy of the province. “We are confident that the major events we had recently including Tourism Friday activities, Explore Limpopo Tourism Market, Phala Phala FM Royal Heritage Festival, and many more will increase the volumes of domestic trips and international arrivals to our province. This will help create much needed jobs to fight poverty, unemployment and inequality, which are the triple challenges tormenting our society”.
The Agency’s objectives of the Tourism Month Campaign are to inspire and drive demand for domestic tourism, to reduce seasonality and promote all year-round leisure travel and to utilize the event as an important platform to boost business relations between the public and private sector.

Issued on Behalf of LTA by:
Surprise Moshokwa
Media Liaison Officer
Tel: 015 293 3600
Cell: 077 603 1268
Email: surprisem@golimpopo.com