Limpopo Province; Polokwane: Limpopo Province is known to be the busiest Province during this time of the year as over 1.5 million pilgrims flock to the province to visit their various places of worship for the Easter period. The MEC of Limpopo Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET), Mr. Tshitereke Baldwin Matibe, took the opportunity to wish all the visitors to the province well and a safe stay during this period. This, he did when he officially launched the newly built twenty (20) sleeper chalets at Nylsvley Nature Reserve this morning. The agency encourages Limpopo citizens to welcome visitors to the province with warm arms, which is what they are known for.
Matibe further said, “In line with our sister Department of Transport and Community Safety, we are also calling for calm and restraint on the roads during this time and urge all our visitors to drive with caution and restraint to arrive alive at their destinations”.
Easter period, presents a yet to be exploited area of tourism awareness for the agency. The purpose for this campaign is to among other things inspire and drive demand for domestic tourism through the conversion of VFR’s (Visiting friends and relatives) into leisure tourists; reduce seasonality and promote all year-round leisure travel; encourage the industry to embrace the digital transformation in their enterprises, thus providing support for the “Sho’t Left” campaign to both trade and consumers, and entrench Limpopo as the home of the mass pilgrimage given huge denominations resident in the province. The industry players will be encouraged to use the “Sho’t Left” platform as it is popular, and people easily identify with it.
Another competitive advantage is that the two Zion Christian Churches are not the only big churches in Limpopo. The Methodist Church, in Sekhukhune District is one of the biggest denominations in the province, while United African Apostolic Church (UAAC) in Vhembe District is another huge denomination with millions of followers from all corners of South Africa and beyond. Religious tourism is to this end, yet another area to be tapped into for increasing the number of tourists in Limpopo.
The Easter period is characterized by short visits by family and friends within the domestic market. In the case of the Limpopo Province, the added benefit is the flood of pilgrims to various churches in the province. These pilgrims come mainly from within South Africa but an undetermined number of them also hail from the neighboring countries of Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho an Eswatini.
This presents a yet to be exploited area of tourism awareness for the agency. The 2025 Easter campaign will seek to incorporate the Pilgrimage as described above via activations around the sites of the pilgrimage. LTA will seek to expose “close to home” outings that are both affordable and family oriented. Digital media platforms will largely be used to activate the message that destination Limpopo has more to enjoy in line with its pay of line of “More To Enjoy”.
The promotion plan is designed to keep Limpopo Province as a top-of-mind destination within the priority markets in the country and to promote short to long-term packages for the target audience. Other planned output channels outside social or digital media include physical or ground activations in various districts.
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ISSUED ON BEHALF OF LTA BY:
MIKE TAUATSOALA
MANAGER: COMMUNICATIONS, PR AND STAKEHOLDER RELATIONS
LIMPOPO TOURISM AGENCY
Tel: 015 293 3600
Cell: 082 886 3294
Email: miket@golimpopo.com