POLOKWANE – Project Director of the Hotel & Home Design Fair, Hendrietta Pheladi Masha, has encouraged South Africans to support local brands and small businesses as the three-day exhibition gets underway at the Polokwane International Airport’s T49 Hangar in Limpopo.
The event, which started yesterday, brings together locally based exhibitors showcasing their products and services in the hospitality, hotel and home design industries.
Masha, who began her journey as an exhibitor before establishing the Hotel & Home Design Fair, said she wanted to start the initiative in Limpopo, the province where she was born and raised, before taking the exhibition to other parts of the country.
Although the response has been slow, Masha remains optimistic about the event’s future, drawing a comparison between the growth of the exhibition and a baby learning to walk.
“The baby starts by crawling before it can walk,” she said, expressing her belief that the initiative will grow with time and continued support.
Her father, Kgoshi Lengwai Aaron Masha, the traditional leader of the Masha Makopole Traditional Authority, expressed pride in his daughter’s determination to build the initiative.
Kgoshi Masha said he felt overwhelmed seeing his daughter move mountains and turn her vision into reality.
He described the event as an eye-opener for his daughter, saying it had demonstrated her ability to organise and lead such an initiative.
He also pledged to support her at the next event, encouraged by what she had achieved through the current exhibition.
The Hotel & Home Design Fair continues to provide a platform for local businesses to showcase their products, connect with potential customers, and demonstrate the value of supporting homegrown brands.