The Gauteng Tourism Authority, the official destination marketing agency for the Gauteng City Region will this week invade Botswana’s capital city of Gaborone as it promotes Gauteng lifestyle and entertainment events to the multitudes of Batswana who are always in attendance and supporting the South African events circuit. The activation, termed #GPLifestyle Botswana Invasion, is scheduled from Thursday 14 July to Saturday 16 July 2016 at Masa Square in Gaborone.
“This tour and activation is meant to give our target market a teaser of the mouthwatering Gauteng lifestyle events, as well as to create market access opportunity for our township enterprises and products,” says Gauteng Tourism Authority CEO Siphiwe Ngwenya.
“This forms part of the provincial government programme of Township Economy Revitalisation and opens doors for cross-border collaborations in the drive towards integrated regional tourism promotion as envisaged through initiatives like the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) uni-visa project,” explains Ngwenya.
As part of our provincial events, bidding and hosting strategy, Gauteng Tourism Authority said they have identified the period of July 2016 to March 2017 as their events peak season in Gauteng with the bulk of these events focusing on lifestyle, music, fashion, food, shopping and a variety of sporting and cultural activities.
“During this period we host the Moretele Park Tribute Concert, Joburg International Arts Alive Festival, Standard Bank Joy of Jazz, the Africa Fashion and Joburg Fashion weeks, Joburg Shopping Festival, Vaal Wine Route Meander, Taste of Joburg, Delicious Food and Music International Festival, Gauteng SANSUI Summer Cup, Spring Fiesta, BMW and Inanda Polo tournaments, Soweto Derby, 947 Cycle Challenge, and more.”
“Shopping, as part of the big city urban lifestyle offering, is a major draw card for Joburg and Gauteng, in particular. We receive both domestic and regional visitors whose sole reason to travel to our destination is to look for inspiration, check on the latest fashion and lifestyle trends, and shop for personal and retail re-sale purposes.”
The Joburg Shopping Festival is the Gauteng Tourism Authority’s response to this need, especially from nearby provinces and the SADC region, of which Botswana is a key member and driver of this market. Through the development of retail services and offerings, shopping tourism can serve as a platform for urban regeneration by adding value to areas less visited by tourists. Cities utilise shopping and retail experiences to boost the appeal of the destination, supporting economic growth and income generation.
This is very true in the case of the Gauteng City Region, as we have seen new neighbourhoods anchored by shopping and lifestyle hubs, such as Melrose Arch, Parkhurst, Rosebank, Menlyn, Brooklyn, Sandton and the Waterfall Lifestyle Estate, home to the new Mall of Africa.
Among other activations this promotion drive will feature a pop-up shop at Masa Square, a fashion, music and media cocktail event at Masa Square Hotel, engagement sessions with tour operators that sell South African experiences in Botswana and a “GP Nightlive Experience” at the Cigar Lounge on Saturday night to close off the activation with Gogo Music.
“We are focusing on Botswana primarily because of the potential of this market. Batswana visit South Africa, and Johannesburg in particular, for business, leisure, shopping and for the purposes of visiting friends and family,” says Barba Gaoganediwe, Gauteng Tourism Authority’s head of Destination Promotions and Marketing.
“Arrival figures from Botswana into South Africa, and Gauteng in particular, have remained positive and we want to consolidate our winning formula,” adds Gaoganediwe.
People in Botswana love South African events, it doesn’t cost much to visit South Africa and they can easily relate to the experience across the border. While they will be coming for the best lifestyle and leisure events in Africa, we are also encouraging them to spend more days in Gauteng to explore other opportunities like business, trade, investments and touching base with their ancestors at the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site.
The Botswana visit will showcase the best of Gauteng lifestyle – spanning music, fashion, adventure and nightlife experiences in our townships. Some of the exciting products travelling with us include the Locrate Market, Fixin Diaries, Soweto Outdoor Adventures, the celebrated Thesis Lifestyle, DJs from GoGo Music (a house music collective led by the international megastar DJ Ralf Gum that recently toured over six Gauteng townships showcasing their music and our township experiences to their multitudes of global audiences) and the winners of the inaugural Gauteng Township Entrepreneurs Awards.