Limpopo Business 2016-17 edition

OVERVIEW
54 nature reserves of different
types. The combined land area of
Limpopo’s national, provincial and
private game and nature reserves
is 3.6-million hectares.
According to the Limpopo
Premier’s office, the tourism
sector employs in the region of
22 414 people. The Limpopo
Tourism Agency is pursuing a
multi-national tourism strategy,
with the Limpopo-Zambezi
brand initiative one example of
new approaches to marketing the
province.
Hotels and casinos
Tsogo Sun runs the Garden Court
Polokwane, which has 180 rooms
ranging from executive suites to
family rooms.
The Protea Hotel group has
three hotels in the province. In
the capital city of Polokwane, the
Protea Hotel Landmark has 80
rooms and six conference venues,
while just outside the city is the
Protea Hotel Ranch Resort, where
guests can walk with lions. The
hotel is on a 1 000-hectare nature
conservancy and specialises in catering
for weddings. In Mokopane,
the Protea Hotel The Park has 125
rooms and can cater for up to 400
conference delegates. The threestar
hotel recently added 25 selfcatering
units.
The Rezidor Hotel Group will
open a Park Inn by Radisson in
Polokwane in 2016. This is the
group’s third hotel in South Africa,
with the others located in Cape
Town and Johannesburg.
The new hotel will be very
close to the Peter Mokaba sports
complex and near the local golf course. The Rezidor Hotel Group intends
opening hotels in each of South Africa’s nine provincial capitals and the
biggest economic centres.
The Fusion Boutique Hotel in the provincial capital offers five-star
quality in 30 en-suite rooms and two exclusive suites. Sun International
runs the Meropa Casino and Entertainment World near Polokwane. In
the province’s northern regions at Thohoyandou, there is the Khoroni
Hotel, Casino and Convention Resort. This is a Peermont venture and
there is a three-star Peermont Metcourt Hotel in the complex.
Three new casino licences have recently been awarded in Limpopo.
One of the recipients was Peermont Global Resorts for the official launch
and operation of the Thaba Moshate Casino, Hotel and Conference
Centre in the Greater Tubatse Local Municipality. During construction
751 people were employed and a further 180 permanent jobs are
expected when the casino is fully operational.
There are now 237 limited pay-out gambling machines in the province,
and licences of one sort or another generated R50-million for the
provincial government in 2015.
Nature
The National Department of Tourism is facilitating the upgrade of a
lodge in the Vhembe District. Wisani Lodge is about 20 minutes drive
from the Punda Maria gate of the Kruger National Park and is in an
area particularly rich in birdlife. This community-owned project is in
need of a private investor with about R10-million to invest in upgrading
the lodge’s six chalets and adding another 14. A master plan and
environmental impact assessment report already exists.
A number of resorts in a variety of climatic regions fall under the
control of the provincial body branded as Limpopo Wildlife Resorts.
77 LIMPOPO BUSINESS 2016/17