{"id":4947,"date":"2025-05-16T11:55:27","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T09:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hconline.co.za\/?p=4947"},"modified":"2025-05-16T11:55:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T09:55:27","slug":"thembisile-hani-champions-heritage-and-hospitality-at-ati-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/thembisile-hani-champions-heritage-and-hospitality-at-ati-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Thembisile Hani champions heritage and hospitality at ATI 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>DURBAN \u2013<\/strong> Thembisile Hani Local Municipality returned for a second consecutive year to Africa\u2019s Travel Indaba (ATI), held from May 12 to 15, 2025, showcasing its unique cultural tourism offerings and commitment to growing the local economy through heritage and hospitality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Municipal Manager Dumisani Mahlangu said the municipality saw value in conducting its own research prior to ATI to assess the potential benefits of participation. \u201cThis is our second year coming here. Last year was our first showcase after we conducted our own research as a municipality to understand the platform. We realised here lies an opportunity to sell what we are all about,\u201d said Mahlangu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mahlangu noted that following their first appearance at ATI in 2024, the municipality recorded a 15% increase in tourism-related activity. \u201cThrough our own research and interaction with the Local Tourism Organisation, we saw a growth of over 15% in our hospitality industry. That confirmed that ATI is a powerful tool to boost our local economy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This year, the municipality increased its support to seven SMMEs, up from three in 2024, representing sectors such as travel and tourism, hospitality, arts, and craft. Mahlangu highlighted the revitalisation of Loopspruit Winery, a historic wine farm in the Ndebele Kingdom, as a key project. \u201cThere will be a soft launch on May 31. The revitalisation is a major economic game changer for us. It\u2019s not our last time here\u2014we are growing from strength to strength,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He also spoke of emerging partnerships formed during the Indaba, including engagements with international journalists and the Lesotho Development Corporation. \u201cWe are learning how others do tourism and how we can adopt models such as homestays, which allow tourists to live among the locals for an authentic experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I met a keen journalist from Germany who wants to tell our story. We truly appreciate such opportunities\u2014it\u2019s an uptake, it\u2019s an upbeat, and it brings more traction. We expect to see a greater surge than last year, and that\u2019s exactly what we\u2019re targeting.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Ndebele culture was front and centre at the Thembisile Hani exhibition stand. Thando Mahlangu, one of the exhibitors, told Highveld Chronicle: \u201cWe are here to showcase the art, culture, language and traditions of the Ndebele people. We are grateful to the municipality for bringing us here and hope more people will want to visit our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Encouraging youth to take pride in their cultural heritage, Mahlangu said: \u201cWe must utilise this precious resource. We still have icons like uGogo Esther and Nosinky, who received the Order of Ikhamanga. Let\u2019s give them platforms to pass on their skills. Ndebele art is a global attraction, and it\u2019s an economy on its own.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DURBAN \u2013 Thembisile Hani Local Municipality returned for a second consecutive year to Africa\u2019s Travel Indaba (ATI), held from May 12 to 15, 2025, showcasing its unique cultural tourism offerings and commitment to growing the local economy through heritage and hospitality. Municipal Manager Dumisani Mahlangu said the municipality saw value in conducting its own research&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":4948,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59,73,65,26,79,64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-isiko-lethu","category-municipality","category-tie-news-style","category-social","category-tourism"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Thembisile Hani champions heritage and hospitality at ATI 2025 - Highveld Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/thembisile-hani-champions-heritage-and-hospitality-at-ati-2025\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thembisile Hani champions heritage and hospitality at ATI 2025 - Highveld Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"DURBAN \u2013 Thembisile Hani Local Municipality returned for a second consecutive year to Africa\u2019s Travel Indaba (ATI), held from May 12 to 15, 2025, showcasing its unique cultural tourism offerings and commitment to growing the local economy through heritage and hospitality. Municipal Manager Dumisani Mahlangu said the municipality saw value in conducting its own research...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/thembisile-hani-champions-heritage-and-hospitality-at-ati-2025\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Highveld Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-16T09:55:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rodney Hlatshwayo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rodney Hlatshwayo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/thembisile-hani-champions-heritage-and-hospitality-at-ati-2025\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/thembisile-hani-champions-heritage-and-hospitality-at-ati-2025\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rodney Hlatshwayo\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/#\/schema\/person\/6aaa0cb398c790d6190a1dff9525f5bc\"},\"headline\":\"Thembisile Hani champions heritage and hospitality at ATI 2025\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-16T09:55:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/thembisile-hani-champions-heritage-and-hospitality-at-ati-2025\/\"},\"wordCount\":451,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/thembisile-hani-champions-heritage-and-hospitality-at-ati-2025\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"articleSection\":[\"Community\",\"Isiko Lethu\",\"Municipality\",\"News\",\"social\",\"Tourism\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/thembisile-hani-champions-heritage-and-hospitality-at-ati-2025\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/thembisile-hani-champions-heritage-and-hospitality-at-ati-2025\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.highveldchronicle.co.za\/wp64\/thembisile-hani-champions-heritage-and-hospitality-at-ati-2025\/\",\"name\":\"Thembisile Hani champions heritage and hospitality at ATI 2025 - 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