Pic: Officials from MTPA and LTA affirm their shared vision to promote tourism in both provinces of Mpumalanga and Limpopo
By Lwazi Raul-Shongwe
The fence between Limpopo and Mpumalanga felt taller than the one around Kruger National Park for many years.Tourists were told to pick a side. Communities counted percentages. Even the wildlife didn’t check passports, but the brochures did.
That changed at the Radisson Hotel in Hoedspruit on Friday 29 May 2026. The MTPA(Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency), and the LTA(Limpopo Tourism Agency) hosted a historic Joint Winter Campaign Launch.
The event was also the launch of the “Two Provinces, One Destination” campaign.
The concept of a joint winter campaign was reportedly first discussed during the World Travel Market held in Cape Town earlier this year and was further strengthened during the recently-completed Africa’s Travel Indaba 2026 successfully held in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.
MTPA Interim Chairperson of the Finance and Investment Committee, Sizile Ndlovu, didn’t start with numbers. He started with weather.
“As Mpumalanga Tourism and Limpopo Tourism we’re here at Radisson Hotel in Hoedspruit, because we signed a MOU(Memorandum of Understanding), where we agreed to work together. We are here because we want to launch a winter campaign. Both our provinces are warm and our winter is not severe,” said Ndlovu.
Then he listed the places like a proud parent naming children: “We want people to be aware that Mpumalanga Lowveld, Limpopo we have wild animals, we have Three Rondavels, we have Hoedspruit, we have Kapama Lodge, we have Graskop Gorge Lift, and other attractions that people can come and enjoy,” he said.
For Ndlovu, the timing matters. He noted that the launch is aligned with Kruger National Park’s 100 years celebration, and the visit by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Mpumalanga Premier ,Mandla Ndlovu and MECs who visited the Park to celebrate this milestone.
“ We are enticing our people to visit all our tourist attractions, and this will play a significant role in creating jobs for our people. This will help our economy to improve. This is serious because we want more tourists to come and make life improve for the people of Mpumalanga and Limpopo,” Ndlovu added.
He urged the media to use their platforms to inspire travellers to spend more time exploring Mpumalanga and Limpopo, particularly during the winter season when both provinces offer favourable weather conditions and exceptional tourism experiences.
LTA Deputy Chairperson,Grace Sibara, has been waiting for this day since Africa’s Travel Indaba last year.
“We are happy and we can’t wait for this collaboration because it’s long overdue. The MOU was signed at the Africa’s Travel Indaba, and we were waiting for this moment to kickstart everything,” Sibara said.
She sees two provinces, not competing, but completing each other. “What we are looking forward to is collaboration, in terms of promoting the two provinces. Both provinces are unique and have their own sites, culture and heritage. If we combine these provinces in terms of promotion, putting up packages that are going to attract more tourists coming into our provinces, our tourism in both provinces are going to grow.”
Sibara brought it back to the people selling beadwork at the gate. “Visitors who come to our province bring money, they buy art and craft and other items for their families back home. As tourism stakeholders, we must make sure that when our tourists come to our provinces, they find everything in place. In that way, jobs are going to be created.”
And she had a message for Kruger on its centenary: “I love sustainable tourism development, and I would like to say to the Kruger National Park, continue conserving nature and wildlife,” Sibara said.
Culture and heritage consultant, Makheda Khoza, jokingly said she’s been divided between the two provinces culturally.
“People have been making us to compete, in that we have 70% of the Kruger National Park, and Mpumalanga has 30%, yet you have people coming into Mpumalanga. Now we don’t have to separate the two. We can tell people that when they are coming into the Kruger National Park, they are coming to Limpopo and Mpumalanga.”
For Khoza, the joint campaign is about more than hotel beds. “I think the rural tourism, represented by Limpopo and Mpumalanga, has been ignored. This kind of a joint venture means that we can now focus on how rural tourism can transfer to communities. How do we make sure that the tourism which is happening touches our rural communities,” she added.
Khoza is already thinking ahead. “I think this is a good opportunity to come with new tourism products as well, and also to strengthen what we call the culture and heritage sector, because it’s been very streamlined because we do it according to what we know. This now is an opportunity to expand and come up with other tourism offerings,” she said.
A key focus of the collaboration is said to ensure that tourists visiting both provinces enjoy safe and memorable experiences through coordinated efforts involving government, the private sector, and the SAPS(South African Police Service).
The event brought together a wide range of stakeholders, including members of the media, tourism industry representatives, tourism youth formations, and other key partners.
Tourism stakeholders and members of the media were also afforded an opportunity to engage directly with the leadership of both agencies, sharing ideas and discussing opportunities to strengthen regional tourism development.
The Joint Winter Campaign Launch proved to be more than an event. It gave the MOU signed between Limpopo and Mpumalanga a powerful pulse.
Because when a finance chairperson talks jobs, a deputy chairperson talks overdue partnerships, and a culture consultant talks healing a 70/30 divide, “Two Provinces, One Destination” stops being a slogan. It starts sounding like home.
