Students from the Limkokwing Swaziland Tourism club recently hosted industry professionals for a tourism mini-indaba at the Mbabane campus.
The aim of the indaba was to give students an opportunity to learn applied tourism marketing and research.
Notable guests at the event included Swaziland Tourism Authority’s (STA) Marketing Officer, Ms. Chunky Mdluli; STA Research & Statistics Activities Officer, Ms. Nontsikelelo Mavuso; Skyworld Travel Tours Operations Manager, Akhona Fakudze; and Swaziland Environmental Authority’s Director of Policy Planning Research and Information, Mr. Gcina Dladla.
The industry professionals shared insights on Swaziland’s tourism landscape trends, opportunities and how students can tap into the field after they graduate.
Ms. Chunky Mdluli talked about how Swaziland Tourism Authority applies marketing when promoting Swaziland to other countries.
She also highlighted the growth of Swaziland’s tourism sector because it offers four tourism pillars necessary for attractive tourism namely adventure, culture, natural beauty and wildlife.
“The country’s culture and heritage remain a point of interest for international tourists because the practices are unique but have meanings tourists relate to, which gives them a glimpse of the nation’s psyche,” Mdluli added.
Marketing Swaziland to the world
In explaining STA’s technical approach to tourism marketing research and collecting statistics to better position the country, Nontsikelelo Mavuso said the company works in synergy with government departments and local tourism establishments through questionnaires and surveys in order to gather information about tourists such as nationality, gender, personality type, income and how much tourists spend in the country.
STA then shares results of the statistics with aspiring entrepreneurs who are in the process of opening tourism-oriented businesses.
Skyworld Travel Tours’ Akhona Fakudze focused on professional and personal traits students need to develop to stand a chance to succeed in the tourism sector.
Fakudze highlighted that customer service is extremely important because it forms the basis of frequent patronage from clients. “It is for students to understand that the world is now a global village and that each culture has norms and taboos. Students must know these norms and taboos so that they can offer exceptional tourism and hospitality service.”
He also encouraged students to constantly strive to improve the skills they possess, to research and find the latest developments aligned with those skills and to advance further.
The Tourism mini-indaba provided students with unmatchable insight from the country’s leading players in the tourism industry and gave them a glimpse of how they have to position themselves for a successful career in the local and international tourism industry
