Leonard's Story

... "Since we were struggling with our fledgeling company, I decided to join the transport business where I was employed as a driver, transporting staff and organised groups for trips to various areas. This could either be a meeting, or attending a funeral, and ultimately the transporting of Tourists. A company called us from Nelspruit, which is more than 200 kilometres from Emalahleni, to request a tour for Nigerian celebrities who were attending the Lowveld Tourism meeting. This was a transport deal I organised after we had been at the Travel Indaba at the ICC."

"At this point I realized that most of the clients we were transporting were actually tourists, since we were transporting people who didn’t know the areas we were going to. We would stop at either a mall, a tavern or a bottle store, and some clients would regret that they did not book for accommodation as well, since they enjoyed either our customer service or the welcome they received from the people we were visiting, or because they loved the areas we visited."

"After a year I was offered a job for marketing by a company dealing with properties and a few guesthouses. Within a few weeks the owner decided to change my responsibilities to being the General Manager of the company. After a few months I then decided to leave my job (with the added benefit of all the experience I had gained) and return to pursuing my aim of being one of the most reputable Consulting and Development Companies in the Tourism Industry. I took this decision because I saw endless opportunities available within the tours, travel, transport, arts and craft, route designing and accommodation businesses respectively."

"Route designing, and destination design and management, can enhance the cohesion between the arts, crafts and the tourism industry. This is one of the reasons why we decided to voluntarily engage in processes of designing routes around Emalahleni. We had done great work with the Mpumalanga Tourism and Park’s Agency in terms of putting together the Liberation Route and the Half Day Tour Itinerary for Emalahleni. Presently we are working on creating a full day tour, with a few added attractions which will assist us in concluding the Township Tour for Emalahleni, thus contributing to the development of the Township Economy."

"During the process of establishing the township route I have come to realize that there is a need to also empower our product owners, both the emerging and the established tourism products."

"Being part of the Travel Indaba for three consecutive years was an eye opener because it confirmed our vision and mission, and it boosted our knowledge and focus within the growth and development of Safari, Tourism, Travel, Transport, Training, Events Management and Catering, Business Consulting and Boat Cruise. Due to our focused strategy on innovations and quality control we started or sister companies which are more asset driven and market specific, namely:
1. Emalahleni Boat Cruise and Events: the inception of Emalahleni Boat Cruise is aimed at creating jobs at the Emalahleni Dam by employing skippers and life savers, promote mountain biking at the Dam, and reviving the Zip Swing at the Dam.
2. Safari Destinations Africa: to focus on domestic tourism and safari particularly to open more possibilities in relations to career development. Domestic tourism is not fully explored in terms of job creation and marketing safari within our black community. Our plan is to maximise participation through creating awareness.
3. Mlimibane Timbers Trading and Projects: the removal and management of alien species is one of the key factors to saving water and looking after the vanishing streams, which in turn can add towards leisure tourism. There is little commitment from most local Municipalities around environmental issues. Mlimibane aims to address that need, in a partnership with an environmentalist company, as a means of job creation and nature preservation."

"The survival and growth of our group of companies is based on the cohesion of arts, culture, tourism, and environmental responsibility. This is why we have decided to focus on training and development, as a means of creating a true reflection of tourism growth and development. Web designing, web development and social media platforms can work as a bigger stimulant for the cohesion of tourism, arts and events. This brings us to our latest sister company: the partnership we have established with Social Genius."