Media
Just a few hours’ drive from Gauteng, in the heart of one of South Africa’s most popular tourist destinations, Mpumalanga is an ideal business-tourism location. The province offers a retreat from city life with all the modern conveniences necessary for business to be done or conferences to proceed smoothly.
The Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport (KMIA) and several other aerodromes make getting in and out of this beautiful and interesting region easy. The N4 national highway is the spine of a good road network.
The telecommunications network in Mpumalanga is also well developed. Vodacom’s enhanced network which now reaches 97% of South African’s population, ensures that voice and data services are available in all major centres in the province, and in most other areas as well.
The diversity on offer in Mpumalanga is truly remarkable. By way of example, the luxury guest house La Roca is two minutes’ drive from the capital of the Lowveld, Nelspruit. Easy day trips can be made to the Kruger National Park, Blyde River Canyon and Pilgrims Rest; astonishing variety in such close proximity. Views of the northern Drakensberg and the adjoining nature reserve add to the relaxing environment.
Not far away, at Hazyview, corporates or individuals can slide along Africa’s longest cable trail through 1.2km of indigenous forest. A total of 10 platforms link the trail through the trees of the Sabie River Valley and provide stunning views of the valley basin, bird life and the forest. Skyway Trails employs 13 local people and trains people for the adventure tourism industry.
The provincial government is doing its bit to smooth business travellers’ experience. After some delays, the One Stop Border Post development at Komatipoort is back on track, designed to make it easier for travellers to visit and trade in and out of Mozambique. A Corridor User Call Centre is also in the pipeline.
Conference venues
Mpumalanga’s list of conference venues
comprises golf and country estates, hotels, lodges
and resorts, the majority of which offer much
more than simply a conference venue. Game
lodges and fishing resorts offer accommodation
and leisure facilities as well as conference
facilities, while the smaller venues offering an
intimate, tranquil setting for private gatherings.
The Mpumalanga Economic Empowerment Agency (MEGA) is actively pursuing the building of a major international conference facility and hotel. It has put out requests for preliminary work to start in Nelspruit. A parallel development will see the exhibition facilities at the Lowveld Showgrounds upgraded in a major revamp of the area. The provincial government allocated R12-million to this project in early 2009.
The Graceland Hotel Casino & Country Club’s conference facilities in Secunda are perfectly suited for banquets, product launches, conferences and seminars, as well as more personal events such as weddings. The Graceland Arena is able to accommodate up to 1 100 delegates at a time, while some of the other rooms and halls offer more intimate options for between 50 and 400 people.
The Kruger National Park offers 15 different conference venues, able to accommodate between 20 and 400 delegates in a wide range of rooms, halls and outdoor venues. Most of the venues offer accommodation as well as leisure activities including game viewing, hiking and various team-building activities.
Major hotel chains are active in Mpumalanga. The Emnotweni Sun in Nelspruit offers 109 rooms with Internet and wireless Internet facilities. It can accommodate 550 people in banquet format. Meanwhile the 94-bedroom Protea Nelspruit advertises ‘state-of-the-art executive work desks’. Protea has further hotels at Kruger Gate, Hazyview and White River, the last of which, The Winkler, offers motivational and group bonding activities such as outdoor paintball. The Nhlangano Conference Centre is a fairly recent addition to the list of available conference venues. Upgraded to the tune of R10-million by new owners Tourvest, the facilities form part of the Casa do Sol Hotel and Resort near Hazyview.
Events
The Sabie Forest Fair at the York Timbers Sports
Ground lasts for three days in late October
and has been known to
attract as many as 12 000
participants. The Lowveld
Showgrounds, in Nelspruit,
hosts two major annual
festivals, the Lowveld Show
and the Lowveld Agricultural
Show. This popular venue
was visited by more than
350 000 people in 2004.
A number of other festivals celebrate the region’s natural gifts: the Ermelo Highveld Show and Apple Carnival, the Kranspoort Vakansiedorp se Bostrotsfees, the Yellow Arum Lily Festival at Roossenekal, the Tonteldoos Country Festival at Dullstroom (celebrating peaches) and the Brondal Avocado Festival. Belfast and Bethal used to hold tulip and potato festivals – and may do so again soon.
Several arts festivals have established themselves as worth visiting: Dullstroom (in December), Uplands (White River, in May) and InniBos (Nelspruit, in July). Cyclists particularly enjoy the varied terrain of the province, so the Big Induna Mountain Bike Race, the Jock Classic, the Selati AfricCyle and many more are held here, along with races for runners like the Sabie Shufflers (10km and 32km) and the Loskop Marathon.
The gravel roads around White River and Sabie are the venue for the annual Sasol motor rally, a major event on the national motorsports calendar. The exclusive Leopard Creek Golf Club is the venue for the annual Alfred Dunhill Championship, which always attracts a star-studded field.
KEY CONTACTS
Exhibition and Event Association of South Africa: www.exsa.co.za
South African Association for the Conference Industry: www.saaci.co.za
Skyway Trails: www.skywaytrails.com
Lowveld Show Society: www.lowshow.co.za
