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Launch of new portal on the web will promote tourism in the province

Sibongile Mashaba

Sibongile Mashaba

The Gauteng Tourism Authority (GTA) launched its new portal on the Internet at the Sandton Convention Centre last week.

A portal is an Internet gateway to a place, and in this case it is a site on the Web that typically provides personalised information for visitors, providing them with a pathway to other content on the Web.

The agency's mission is to stimulate, facilitate and coordinate sustainable tourism development in Gauteng by marketing the province as a travel destination worldwide and hence the launch of the portal, which represents a revolution in Gauteng's tourism marketing strategies

In her opening speech, GTA chief executive Cawe Mahlati said: "Gauteng is a very popular travel destination. Gauteng Tourism has done a remarkable job of marketing the province to potential tourists .

"But that is not enough, we need to activate the tourism demand and turn it into fulfilment. That is what this portal is designed to do - to convert a dream of visiting Gauteng and South Africa into a reality."

The portal allows travel agents to choose from various providers' web services in the online marketplace and create their own added-value package of flights, car hire, hotels and tours.

The package is then put back on the online market so that other travel agents can access it.

By stimulating tourism in Gauteng, the portal will create job opportunities in the province because more people from all over the world will visit Gauteng and spend their money here.

During the media conference at the launch, representatives of the media and guests were taken on an online tour of the site, which showed that it is going to be a huge success.

Mahlati said: "There is much more to this than meets the eye.

"I invite you all, urge you all to use this portal, to interact with it and to embrace it so that together we can promote Gauteng as a viable destination, to contribute to the economic growth of the country as a whole."

The portal's web address is www.visitgauteng.net.

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