The Johannesburg Tourism Company's head-quarters in Parktown North

RELATED LINKS: City launches the Joburg Tourism Company THE establishment of tourism as a key economic sector for Johannesburg is the main goal of the Johannesburg Tourism Company, officially launched by Executive Mayor Amos Masondo on Tuesday night. Read more New plan for selling Joburg to tourists A SPECIALIST non-profit company has been formed by the City of Johannesburg to co-ordinate tourism, and in a strategic partnership with the city's tourism industry, the executive director of the Sandton Convention Centre, Deon Viljoen, becomes the CEO of the Johannesburg Tourism Company. Read more Tourism workshops to produce plan for Joburg A COMPREHENSIVE sales and marketing plan to expand tourism in Johannesburg is being formulated through a series of workshops being held by the City and the private sector. Read more Changes at Joburg's tourism company AFTER a two-year secondment to the Johannesburg Tourism Company to get it up and running, chief executive officer Deon Viljoen is set to return to the private sector. The deputy CEO, Eddy Khosa, will step in as acting CEO until a new appointment is made. Read more New nodes prove a boon for city tourism TOURISM in Johannesburg is set for a major boost, following the establishment of a number of designated "tourism nodes" across the city. This comes after the formation of several business-driven nodes. Read more

Joburg makes impression at Tourism Indaba WITH its Business Centre one of the show's highlights, the Joburg stand wowed delegates to the annual Tourism Indaba in Durban. May 11, 2005 By Thomas Thale JOHANNESBURG made a huge impression at the prestigious Tourism Indaba in Durban. This is according to Eddie Khoza, the acting chief executive of the Johannesburg Tourism Company (JTC). Impressing at the Tourism Indaba: (left to right) Mengie Hlatshwayo of Joburg's tourism department, Natèrcia Tyler of the JTC, Evan Berger of Traversio Technologies, JTC's acting chief executive Eddy Khosa, and Kevin Ndambakuwa of JTC After four days of networking, exhibiting and attending workshops to promote Joburg as a tourist destination at the indaba, Khoza was confident that the City had had huge market penetration because it had taken an aggressive approach at the show. The annual tourism showpiece takes place at the International Convention Centre and the Durban Exhibition Centre in Durban, in KwaZulu-Natal. This year it ran from 7 to 10 May. The indaba has established itself as a premier travel and trade exhibition in Africa, and is rated in the top three travel trade shows in the world. About 4 000 local and international visitors, including government representatives, tour operators, travel agencies, conference organisers and international media attended the event. Khoza said the Johannesburg brand was prominent throughout the show, with three exhibition stands dedicated to showcasing the City. The JTC worked in partnership with the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) and Moja, a marketing company that promotes JDA projects, to promote the City. However, it was the Business Centre put up by the JTC that proved to be a major attraction. "You couldn't miss it. It was a must to go to the business centre," Khoza said. "It provided Internet service and information dissemination. People came to send emails and they patronised our main stand in the Durban Exhibition Centre." To promote Joburg as a destination of leisure tourism, Khoza said his team emphasised the city's vibrancy and the diversity of its people. "Joburg is alive. Here, you get all nationalities and all language groups. You don't need to go to Mozambique to meet a Mozambican. Joburg is a cultural melting pot." The exhibitions introduced visitors to the struggle route, the investment route, the cultural route - in all to all facets of Joburg tourism, Khoza said, adding that on the whole, visitors gave positive feedback about the city. The Tourism Indaba ended on a high note on Tuesday, with Minister of Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk launching the tourism black economic empowerment scorecard. Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za