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Indaba 2011: Joburg takes centre stage with new offerings

Indaba 2011: Joburg takes centre stage with new offerings

Johannesburg Tourism Company has raised its profile at Indaba 2011 with the hosting of a breakfast briefing for media and industry stakeholders at the Hilton Hotel’s Polo Club in Durban on 9 May 2011.

The meeting covered the broad, diverse “Joburg Experience” as Africa’s leading global destination with edgy, sizzling style and energy, with special attention given to the eco-tourism offerings in the south of Joburg by the SOJO team.

The SOJO Route is characterized by the magnificent Kliprivier Nature Reserve. Also on offer are hiking trails, an art and nature meditation trail, a mountain bike trail, an upmarket spa and eco-hotel, as well as an 18 hole golf course.

Ruben Louw of SOJO says: “Just 11 kilometres south of the city centre is the Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve, an unspoiled 680 hectare stretch of open veld and koppies, filled with over 150 species of birds, around some 650 indigenous plants and trees, with the pleasant Bloubosspruit, meandering through it.”

Entry is free and the KIipriviersberg Nature Reserve offers a network of trails, guided walks and rambles (up to nine kilometers long), hosted every second and fourth Sunday of the month. Horse trails can also be arranged. The Reserve also has an interesting history, including iron age sites and remains of a Voortrekker home.  (Visit www.joburg.org.za or www.knra.co.za for more information.)

JTC launches entrepreneur of the year award
At the Indaba briefing, Jojo Tsheola of Tshela Dinare Tours and Transfers emerged as the proud winner of JTC’s inaugural Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The tour and transport company entrepreneur has an inspiring story to share. Unable to find suitable employment, but with a passion for tourism and a youthful zest for life, he started Tsheola Dinare, his own transport and tour company some three years ago, and hasn’t looked back since.

Aside from managing a highly professional team of drivers and tour guides, he now owns and operates a fleet of buses, sedans and two coaches to meet the growing demand for the services of his company Tsheola Dinare.

Part of the City of Johannesburg, the Johannesburg Tourism Company (JTC), is a destination marketing organisation, dedicated to promoting tourism growth in Johannesburg. The primary function of the JTC is to promote Johannesburg as a business, lifestyle, sport and leisure destination both locally and internationally. Its operations include running a Convention Bureau, a Visitor and Tourism Information Bureau, as well as co-ordinating city-wide tourism marketing programmes, along with tourism information gathering and analysis.