Times Of Swaziland: GALP OFFICIAL ENERGY SPONSOR OF LUJU FESTIVAL

GALP OFFICIAL ENERGY SPONSOR OF LUJU FESTIVAL
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Mhlengi Magongo on 19/09/2022 08:16:00


MALKERNS - This year Galp is the official energy sponsor of the Luju Festival
and offering a chance to double up on energy with promotions at all 22 Galp
filling stations in Eswatini.
“All you have to do to stand a chance to win one of 10 double Luju Gardens
tickets is spend E350 or more at any Galp service station, write your name and
number on the back of your slip/s and drop it in the box provided,” said House
on Fire. The event organisers, House on Fire (Pty) Ltd also engaged Eswatini
Tourism Authority (ETA) and their counter parts in Mozambique, Centro Cultural
Moçambicano-Alemão (CCMA).
Event
House on Fire said the aim was to promote the event beyond Eswatini by
attracting international tourist and their businesses. This move, by the
company, has created a platform in Mozambique that will allow citizens of that
country to purchase and participate in the event, both as guest and
entrepreneurs. The event organisers have facilitated for the availability of
food and clothing stalls to both locals and internationals, which has in turn
boosted Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.
House on Fire Communications Officer Simon Dawson said they successfully
launched the Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival yesterday, in
Mozambique, Maputo, With the aim of expanding their regional footprint and
encouraging tourism. He said they have facilitated this creative partnership
between Mozambique, that would greatly benefit both countries. “The festival
will be a great opportunity to see stars from the region like Cape
Verdean/Portuguese singer, Lura, and Mozambican artist, Radjha Ali.
Tickets
Festival tickets are now available in Maputo at the Centro Cultural
Moçambicano-Alemão (CCMA), Av. Samora Machel, n.468, R. da Rádio, as well as
through the Luju websit,” Dawson said. Marco Vaz dos Anjos, Director-General
of the National Institute for Tourism in Mozambique (INATURA), added that;
“The festivals in Eswatini are famous. People from countries like Mozambique,
Lesotho and South Africa come here and feel free. People in Mozambique like
entertainment and getting together! If we take into consideration that we spent
the last two years locked down because of Covid-19, now is the time to get
together and to recover economically. Tourism is about opportunities, and we see
here that there is a good thing happening, so we want Mozambican people to
experience the same vibe,” he added. Dawson also mentioned that this increased
regional collaboration was reflected in the growing support for the Standard
Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle Festival from companies such as Galp, which was
fuelling the wider appreciation of Mozambican and Portuguese language and
culture by supporting acts like Radjha Ali and Lura at Luju Festival 2022. Tour
operators have ability to boost tourism revenue to the new target of E2 billion
and the economy at large. This was mentioned by Business Eswatini’s Marc Ward
during the Triland Excursion Familirisation Tour.
Sector
Ward revealed that there was no other economic sector that had greater potential
to boost economy than tourism. He said: “A hotels study funded by the EU found
that one tour operator had 75 different suppliers.” This, he said, was rare
for any business, proving that tourism had the ability to boost the economy all
round, even faster than agriculture. Ward also shared that African Bank
described tourism as unexploited territory and Eswatini was rated 11 out of 100
countries which have not exploited the sector. This, he said, was why the tour
operators should cease the opportunity ETA has given them to familiarise
themselves with the tourism products in the different regions and use them to
sell. It was also revealed that there was need for coming up with new products
in the sector.