MORAME’s journey involves linking the West Rand with like-minded investors, strategic partners, and stakeholders to enhance the tourism ecosystem and transform regional potential into meaningful involvement and opportunities, writes Geraldine Engelman
Tourism has always been about movement, as people travel from one location to another to explore new places, meet new people, and make memories. However, for the tourism industry to move forward, a new paradigm is required: connectivity.
There are numerous distinct tourism advantages in the tourism sector, such as the need to connect tourist businesses and markets, enabling a stronger relationship between communities and new possibilities; between education and employment; between municipalities and the private sector. When combined, understanding the importance of connectivity in the tourism sector can create something far greater than the sum of their parts.
It is this philosophy that sits at the heart of MORAME (Mogale, Rand West, Merafong Municipalities) Regional Tourism Organisation and its vision for the West Rand. MORAME was established with a clear purpose: to contribute towards building a stronger, more connected, and economically meaningful tourism sector across the region by engaging in a platform of collaboration, development, exposure, and opportunity.
The West Rand has enormous tourism potential. The gem of MORAME is the internationally recognised Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, comprising the Sterkfontein Caves, Swartkrans, Kromdraai, and the Rising Star Cave where Homo Naledi was first discovered. The Cradle of Humankind allows visitors to come in contact with the birthplace of mankind, and engage in rich cultural and historical stories, adventure tourism, cycling routes, hospitality establishments, events, creative industries, emerging enterprises, and communities full of stories and experiences to share.
The difficulty within the tourism sector has never been solely about what the region has; the difficulty is how to connect what we have with the rest of Gauteng. This is where MORAME hopes to play a catalytic role. Rather than simply promoting individual attractions, MORAME portrays itself as a regional platform that brings stakeholders together, develops them, and facilitates collaboration as the organisation recognises that tourist growth cannot occur in isolation, but through the importance of connectivity.
The tourism industry faces significant challenges. A tourism business may have an excellent product but limited market access. A young tourism graduate may have the qualification but lack practical experience. A local tourism association may understand the needs of its members but require stronger networks and resources. An international visitor may arrive in the region but remain unaware of the many experiences available beyond the primary attraction that brought them there. MORAME’s role is to help connect and guide these pieces to provide a platform for engagement amongst the associations.
One of MORAME’s priorities is developing meaningful partnerships with TVET colleges to provide experiential learning opportunities for tourism students. For MORAME, this is about more than student placements–it is about strengthening the relationship between education and the tourism economy; and assisting young people to understand the industry from within and take the tourism field to new heights.
For tourism to succeed beyond what it is now, tourism needs a pipeline of talented, experienced, and confident young workers. In providing opportunities for experiential learning, MORAME can help to strengthen that pipeline while also providing students with a practical understanding of the region in which they may pursue employment. Our recent partnership with Westcol marks the beginning of many TVET collaborations.
Another important area of focus is the development and exposure of small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs). Tourism SMMEs are critical to the health of any destination as they provide accommodation, food, guiding, transport, cultural experiences, crafts, events, and countless other services that collectively cultivate the visitor experience. Yet many small businesses struggle to access markets and gain the exposure necessary to grow. MORAME is therefore initiating a quarterly SMME development and exposure platform at Lanseria International Airport to address these shortfalls.
The goal is to provide opportunities for local tourism businesses to promote their products and services, engage with potential markets, and raise their awareness in an environment that is directly connected to tourists. This is a key tenet in MORAME’s approach: tourism development must provide chances for local participation. Our inauguration SMME development, TravelWell Trade Fair, will take place from 15 to 17 September 2026, and will feature our flagship Visitor Experience Centre on the airport’s lower shopping mall.
The organisation is also engaging directly with Local Tourism Associations through individual meetings to understand their specific needs, challenges, and priorities. This engagement is fundamental to building a truly regional tourism organisation.
MORAME does not believe that one solution can be imposed across the West Rand. Rather, each region has its own unique tourism assets, businesses, communities, and challenges. Understanding these differences allows the organisation to identify where support, partnerships, and follow-up interventions can make the greatest difference. Listening is therefore an important part of MORAME’s leadership approach. So is action.
One of the most exciting examples of the tourism potential already being generated within the region is the Bidon Bus Visitor Experience Centre, which is based in Mogale City on the border of the Cradle of Humankind. MORAME has partnered with Westcol, Bidon Bistro, and Cradle of Humankind to ensure the continuous flow of information to the centre. Bidon Bistro, a cycling euphoria on a weekend, attracts more than 1 000 cyclists each month, creating a significant flow of visitors into the area. But MORAME sees the opportunity as being much bigger than the cycling experience itself. The question becomes: how do we connect those visitors with the broader Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site? How do we encourage them to discover local cultural experiences? How do we create opportunities for local businesses to benefit from this existing visitor movement? How do we turn a journey through the region into a deeper and more valuable destination experience?
This is precisely the kind of thinking that MORAME wants to encourage. It is about moving from isolated tourism products towards an interconnected destination. It is about recognising that tourism expenditure can move through an entire local economy when the right connections are created. And it is about ensuring that the people who live and work within the destination have a meaningful opportunity to participate in its growth.
These priorities will be discussed in larger terms at the next MORAME Regional Tourism Conference on 3 October 2026. The conference’s topic, “Reimagining the Region: From Heritage to High Value Tourism Economy”, represents a substantial intervention in local economic development on the West Rand. The Honourable Minister of Tourism, Patricia De Lille, will be the keynote speaker, offering an opportunity to integrate the West Rand’s regional tourist objectives with the broader national tourism agenda. The conference is a significant milestone for the organisation and provides an opportunity to bring stakeholders from throughout the regional tourism sector together.
However, MORAME’s ambition for the conference extends beyond a day of presentations and networking. It is hoped that the conference will stimulate conversations that lead to partnerships, opportunities, and action for the MORAME region and beyond. It is an opportunity for tourism businesses to be seen and heard, for government and industry to engage, emerging enterprises to connect with established players, and for stakeholders to share ideas and identify opportunities for collaboration.
Most importantly, it is an opportunity to ask a fundamental question: what can the West Rand tourism sector achieve if we work together?
The organisation recognises that regional tourist development is a long-term process. Challenges are inevitable in the way forward. But leadership does not entail waiting for ideal conditions, rather it is about providing platforms that enable people with diverse interests to find common ground and collaborate toward mutual goals.
MORAME’s mission is not only to bring more tourists to the West Rand, but also about building a tourism ecosystem that benefits local businesses, nurtures young talent, supports communities, enhances tourism associations, and fosters regional collaborations. It is about making tourism a significant contribution to regional economic growth. Most importantly, it is about influencing how the West Rand perceives itself as a destination.
The region does not have to wait to be a tourist destination. It’s already one. The largest concentration of human ancestral remains, dating back over three million years, is right at our doorstep. The opportunity right now is to connect its attractions, businesses, people, and stories in a way that will increase the region’s visibility, accessibility, and economic sustainability.
MORAME helps bring the appropriate people together to provide greater tourism opportunities through collaborations, listening to our stakeholders, innovation, and creating possibilities for participation. Inspired by the notion that when a region works together, its tourism potential can be transformed into something far greater, MORAME is a catalyst for economic opportunity, community participation, and long-term regional development.
This is MORAME’s journey: linking the West Rand with like-minded investors, strategic partners, and stakeholders, to enhance the tourism ecosystem, and transform regional potential into meaningful involvement and opportunities.
Geraldine Engelman is the Chief Executive Officer of the MORAME Regional Tourism Organisation.