During the annual INDABA tourism marketing event in Durban, the Johannesburg Tourism Company (JTC) will be unveiling its winter campaign.

The “A Hot Winter Forecast for Joburg!” campaign forms part of JTC’s marketing strategy to entrench Joburg as a global, year-round business and leisure destination, highlighting special events, attractions, tastes, sights, and sounds to encourage visitors to stay longer, spend more, and enjoy exploring further afield.

Joburg’s calendar of diverse signature events throughout the year provide an ideal platform for DMCs and incentive houses to package offerings. Joburg signature events throughout the year range from the Joburg Open Golf Tournament in January; the Joburg Fashion Week in March; the Africa Cup Polo in July; and Joy of Jazz in August; to Arts Alive, the Joburg Shopping Festival, and Taste of Joburg in October; to Africa Fashion Week and the Sansui Summer Cup in November - to mention but a few.

“While we work at entrenching Joburg’s position as Africa’s leading business tourism destination, the team at Joburg Tourism Company balances this with an ongoing focus on tourism product development, and the presentation and packaging of leisure offerings to the consumer market,” said Acting CEO Phelisa Mangcu.

“Although Joburg is such a youthful city, having celebrated its 125th anniversary last year, it is a treasure trove of economic, social, political, and anthropological history,” said Mangcu, “The city boasts layer upon layer of fascinating history, development and human interest stories – of course, not forgetting the leisure and lifestyle aspects of entertainment, sports, music, arts, and culture. At Joburg Tourism, we work with both the public and the private sector to publicize the development of city precincts, nodes, sites, attractions, and products which are of interest to both locals and visitors.”

Three recent additions to routes and itineraries promoted by JTC include Joburg’s Nature Route (taking in sites of natural beauty and anthropological relevance in the City), the Indian Route (comprising a history of the Indian community in Joburg, with a focus on Mahatma Ghandi, who lived in Joburg from 1903 to 1914), and the Adventure Route (including some of the high octane spills and thrills on offer in Jozi).

Urban tourism is coming into its own in Johannesburg, with the city seeing an increasing number of visitors keen to explore diverse aspects of the city – from all the exciting developments downtown to the heritage routes and sites in Alex and Soweto. This includes the rejuvenation of entire districts or precincts, along with the development of public street art, pedestrianized zones, heritage sites, and lifestyle activities like the Neighbourgoods Market in Braamfontein and the Sunday market at Arts on Main.