The Gauteng MEC of Economic Development, Qedani Mahlangu’s budget speech has revealed some exciting plans for tourism in the province.

Most notably is the planned launch of Gauteng’s first hop-on hop-off bus in January 2013. Claus Tworeck will be bringing City Sightseeing, the number one open top bus, to Jozi. Soon tourists and residents alike will be able to jump on an iconic red bus and explore some of the CBDs most famous tourist locations.

From Constitution Hill to Newton and the Origins Centre at Wits this bus will allow visitors to explore the city’s history in a safe and convenient way, making the city more tourist friendly. The buses, which operate in 100 cities on six continents around the world, will offer commentary in 17 different languages.

Dawn Roberston, CEO of the Gauteng Tourism Authority, says: “We are very excited about the new hop-on hop-off buses, they are sure to become a premier tourism experience in Johannesburg and in future we are looking at bringing the buses to Pretoria too.”

This year will also see a reorganization of the tourism entities in the province. The three tourism entities operating in the province – the Gauteng Tourism Authority, the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site and Dinokeng – are being merged into a single entity.

This move is informed by the development of the new Gauteng Tourism Sector Strategy following the Tourism Summit last year. To this end, and to grow the province’s tourism economy, a budget allocation of R157 million has been made by the Gauteng Department of Economic Development (GDED).

Source: news24