Strong movement towards New Destination Development Partnership
MEDIA RELEASE
MPUMALANGA TOURISM INDUSTRY AND PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT MOVE TOWARDS NEW DESTINATION DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP
By Oupa Pilane
22 September 2026 | Mpumalanga
A significant step towards strengthening Mpumalanga’s tourism economy has been taken following a high-level engagement between tourism industry representatives and the Office of the Premier on a proposed new approach to tourism and destination development in the province.
The provincial government delegation included the Director-General in the Office of the Premier, the MEC responsible for Economic Development and Tourism, the Head of Department, and the Chairperson and Acting CEO of the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA).
The business delegation included Oupa Pilane, Nomkhosi Tshabalala, Chief Operating Officer of the Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism (KLCBT), and Grant Ponting, Chief Executive Officer of Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport (KMIA).
The meeting considered a detailed proposal calling for Mpumalanga to move from a predominantly tourism-development approach towards an integrated destination-development model, bringing government, the private sector, communities and public entities together around a common tourism growth agenda.
The key proposals presented were positively received and accepted as a basis for taking the process forward.
A new Tourism Growth Partnership
Central to the proposal is the establishment of a Mpumalanga Tourism Growth Partnership, designed to strengthen coordination between government and the private sector and address the factors that determine the competitiveness of Mpumalanga as a destination.
The proposed Partnership would focus on six broad delivery areas:
* Destination development, infrastructure and public tourism assets;
* Market growth, access and the visitor economy;
* Tourism investment, product development and commercialisation;
* Safety, security and destination resilience;
* Inclusive tourism, skills, community participation and enterprise development; and
* Events, MICE, film, tourism data and destination intelligence.
The proposal further recommends that the existing Tourism Think Tank be incorporated into the broader Partnership as its technical and strategic advisory structure, providing research, evidence, policy recommendations, innovation and destination intelligence.
From visitor numbers to visitor value
A central theme of the engagement was that Mpumalanga must increasingly look beyond visitor numbers and focus on the economic value generated by every visitor.
This means measuring not only how many people come to Mpumalanga, but also how long they stay, how much they spend, how widely they travel throughout the province, how much visitor expenditure remains in local economies and how many sustainable jobs and businesses tourism creates.
Mpumalanga already possesses extraordinary tourism assets. The challenge is to connect those assets into an integrated destination economy.
“Our challenge is not a shortage of tourism assets. Mpumalanga has extraordinary wildlife, natural, cultural, heritage and adventure assets. Our opportunity is to connect them into a properly managed destination economy that encourages visitors to stay longer, spend more and travel more widely across our province.”
Tourism development also cannot be left to the tourism authorities alone.
“A visitor does not experience government departments. A visitor experiences a destination. They experience our roads, airports, towns, attractions, accommodation, restaurants, transport, safety, cleanliness, signage and service. Destination development therefore requires a whole-of-government approach working in partnership with business and communities.”
Improving access and connectivity
Access and visitor mobility formed an important part of the discussions.
Growing Mpumalanga’s tourism economy requires better integration between air access, roads, tourism transport, car rental, shuttle services, e-hailing and last-mile connectivity.
Improved connectivity between Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport, Mbombela, the Kruger National Park, Panorama Route and other tourism nodes can help distribute visitors more widely across the province and increase their length of stay and expenditure.
Panorama Route as a destination-development pilot
The Panorama Route Reimagined initiative has been proposed as a potential pilot for the new destination-development approach.
The concept seeks to integrate Graskop, Sabie, Pilgrim’s Rest, the Blyde River Canyon, God’s Window, Bourke’s Luck Potholes, Three Rondavels, waterfalls and surrounding tourism experiences into a stronger and better coordinated destination corridor.
Rather than approaching roads, attractions, towns, safety, investment, accommodation and marketing separately, the destination-development model brings them together within one integrated programme.
Lessons from the Panorama Route pilot could subsequently inform destination-development programmes elsewhere in Mpumalanga.
Tourism Lekgotla proposed
The next phase envisages a Mpumalanga Tourism Lekgotla bringing together government, the tourism industry, municipalities, public entities, communities and other strategic partners.
The Lekgotla should be an implementation platform rather than another tourism conference.
Its purpose would be to agree on priority interventions and determine:
What must be done → Who is responsible → Who must support → What it will cost → When it must be completed → How success will be measured.
A provincial tourism performance dashboard has also been proposed to monitor visitor growth, expenditure, length of stay, infrastructure, investment, public tourism assets, safety, access, local procurement, SMME participation and employment.
From agreement to implementation
The constructive response to the proposals represents an important opportunity to build a stronger partnership between government and the tourism industry.
“We appreciate the constructive engagement with the Office of the Premier, the MEC, DEDT and MTPA. There is a shared recognition that tourism can make a significantly greater contribution to Mpumalanga’s economy.”
The immediate priority is now to translate the discussions into clear structures, responsibilities, projects, timelines and measurable outcomes.
“The meeting was important, but the real work starts now. Our objective must be to move Mpumalanga from simply having world-class tourism assets to becoming a world-class, integrated and competitive destination.”
Tourism has the potential to become an even stronger instrument for investment, entrepreneurship, employment, community participation and inclusive economic growth across Mpumalanga.
ENDS
Issued by: Oupa Pilane
