By Emily Setona
QWAQWA – The South African Township and Village Tourism (SATOVITO) Association hosted a two-day intra-trade tourism workshop at Dinkoeng tented camp and adventure site from 23 to 24 November 2023.
It was treated to authentic Basotho cuisine and cultural activities.
According to the organisation’s chairperson Thulani Nzima, their mandate is to promote authentic, indigenous world class tourism services and experiences in the townships and villages of South Africa.
The aim of hosting this event in this province is also to assist the Free State Department of Small Business Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (DESTEA) to fulfil one of its core duties which is to help develop and support the local tourism businesses in the area.
“One of the key things that we do as SATOVITO is to expose the hidden gems – those places that are less exposed, rarely visited but are so beautiful, yet we don’t know about them. As our name says it, we are a township and village tourism organisation, that is why it is so fitting that we hold our workshop here at Dinkoeng.
“We chose this place because it talks to some of the considerations of our organisation. It is located in the village and also owned by a woman, so we decided to reimburse some of the investment that she has invested in this business,” Nzima said in an interview with The Guard.
Members of SATOVITO had this to say when speaking to The Guard:
“I have been a member of the organisation since its inception, and I am here to collaborate and learn about the area and from a tourism perspective learn about the area and what it has to offer. It is also my first time being in the Free State,” fragrance manufacturer and founder of Pretoria-based Chumani Grandeur, Cynthia Dladla said.
Nomzamo Mvubu of SANTACO KwaZulu Natal said, “I am here today because this is where we get more information on how to get funding and how to develop our tourism businesses. I hope that from this event more people will get funding for their projects, especially in the rural areas. This place is so beautiful; it somehow shows that there is a God.”
The owner of Dinkoeng tented camp and adventure site Felile Molefe said she felt honoured and humbled that this event was hosted at her tourism destination nestled close to the beautiful Maluti and Drakensberg mountains of Qwaqwa.
“This is a national and first-class event and I’d like to thank DESTEA and SATOVITO for choosing us to host this spectacular event. We have people from all nine provinces here and the community of Leratong helped me to entertain our guests with cultural activities of traditional song and dance. Our chief Morena Makhabane also slaughtered a cow for us,” Molefe said.
Thulani Nzima chairperson of SATOVITO addressing the audience at the intra-trade tourism workshop held in Dinkoeng.
At the same occasion, the director of tourism and development at DESTEA, Khotso Tau, said the beauty of Dinkoeng made it an easy choice for holding this intra-trade tourism workshop because it is a picturesque tourism destination.
“Last year SATOVITO held their first intra-trade tourism workshop in Limpopo which I attended and because I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, I committed to hosting the event in the Free State this year. I chose Dinkoeng as the host venue because it is located in the beautiful village of Leratong and the magnificent scenery shows that God was in a very good mood when he created this area,” Tau told this publication on the side-lines of the workshop.
