BuaNews (Tshwane)
Bongani Mlangeni
18 October 2006
The Gauteng Tourism Authority (GTA) and the Airport Company of South Africa (ACSA) signed an agreement today, to promote access to information about tourism in the province.
Gauteng is pulling out all the stops to ensure it boosts its popularity among foreign visitors, ahead of the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
With the tournament set to attract millions of tourists into the country, the hospitality industry is making sure it does not miss great opportunities the event promises.
Passenger traffic at the airport is said to be at about 17 million a year currently and is expected to grow to about 24 million a year by 2010.
For this reason, the two organizations have agreed to man an information kiosk at the OR Tambo International Airport, to disseminate information about tourism and the airport.
The GTA said the kiosk will provide accurate and relevant information and material about Gauteng's key experiences. Some include shopping, business, heritage, wining and dining, advice on travel, sights and sounds of the province, tours and accommodation booking.
"The signing of this MOU strengthens and enhances GTA's relationship with ACSA as the industry is gearing to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup," said the authority's CEO Cawe Mahlati.
She added it was through industry alignment and partnerships of this nature that Gauteng was poised to achieve best practice service delivery in the context of the province's growth initiatives.
"The 2010 World Cup provides the platform to endow the Gauteng province with a lasting legacy," she said.
ACSA's Chris Hlekane said the agreement was a significant step in continued collaborative between the two organisations.
He said the information kiosk in the airport would be revamped as part of the partnership.
"This information kiosk will be divided into two distinct halves. The one half will be attended to by personnel from ACSA whose responsibility will be to disseminate airport information.
The other half will be attended to by personnel from GTA whose responsibility will be to disseminate tourism information," said Mr Hlekane.
According to him, the kiosk would play a vital role given ACSA's increased focus on customer service delivery.
Currently, staff from the SA Police Service (SAPS), customs, immigration and baggage handling is receiving training on customer services.
The International Marketing Council (IMC) is helping develop brand champions, particularly in view of the thousands of people expected to visit South Africa leading up to 2010.
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