SA Tourism West Africa Appoints New Boss

Astute marketer and tourism communication expert, Thekiso Rakolojane, has been appointed as new manager for South Africa Tourism West Africa.

He has taken over from Lehlohonolo Pitso, who held the position for five years and has been transferred to head the South Europe region, comprising France, Italy, Spain and Portugal.

This was announced at this year's South African Tourism dinner event in Accra at Villa Monticello on Wednesday, October 31.

The ceremony was to also announce the departure of Lehlohonolo Pitso to the stakeholders of the tourism trade in Ghana, with whom he worked during his stay as the regional manager for West Africa.

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) of South African Tourism, Sthembiso Dlamini, who made the announcements at the dinner event, paid a glowing tribute to both personalities.

She said Lehlohonolo Pitso far exceeded expectation when he was appointed five years ago to set up the West African office of South African Tourism.

According to her, his leadership has not only helped to grow the number of tourists' arrivals from West Africa to South Africa, but has also deepened the relationship between the two regions.

She also indicated that the leadership of South African Tourism was happy with the growth of arrivals from West Africa, and this was due to the effort that was put in by the regional office for West Africa and the support that the team got from trade partners, South African Airways, the SA missions and the media.

Thekiso Rakolojane, she revealed, is an astute marketer with more than 10 years of experience with South African tourism. He has done a lot for the organisation at different levels during the period and she is hopeful he will take office to the next level.

Thekiso, in a speech, commended the outgoing manager for paving the way for him and assured him he will do his best to take the West African office to the next level.

“…I am up to the challenge and I think the one good thing I want to thank you for is giving me dedicated people in the form of our partners. Our airline partners; we are looking forward to you assisting us convey all the Ghanaians that will be making their way to our shores,” he appealed.