Tourism Month is an annual celebration held in September to focus on the importance of tourism to the economy. The United Nations World Tourism Orginisation (UNWTO) celebrated the 2017 Tourism Month under the theme: “Sustainable Tourism, a tool for development”. World Tourism Day (27th of September) 2017 presents a unique opportunity to raise awareness on the contribution of sustainable tourism to development among public and private sector decision-makers and the local community, while mobilizing all stakeholders to work together in making tourism a catalyst for positive change.
Through this theme the Explorer’s Garden Route (EGR) hosted a networking evening for all stakeholders in the region firstly to rebuild the collective partnerships and trust, secondly to reiterate the EGR tourism strategy’s implementation plan and thirdly to create a platform for all tourism stakeholders to engage and network with the possibility of creating linkages and partnerships within the industry.
The event was successfully hosted in the Civic Centre – Riversdale, and the participants were all excited to listen in to the various speeches, regarding sustainable tourism, the purpose of networking within the tourism industry and the highlights of the Implementation plan, seeking to establish how they fit in to the five (5) year plan.
Special thanks has to be mentioned to Inverroche Gin and Stilbaai Kelders for their sponsorship towards the successful evening.
EGR sincerely hopes that the next planned networking event will be more successful and well attended as this opportunity exist for all stakeholders to build linkages within the industry, share experiences and lessons learnt and contribute to the growth of the tourism industry in the Explorer’s Garden Route.
click on the link: Images from the evening
