Department re-establishes a technical forum to strengthen public private partnerships within the tourism sector
In endeavor to achieve the goals set in the National Development Plan (NDP) and also ensure that there is synergised tourism planning and development across all spheres of government, the North West Department of Tourism has recently re-established the Provincial Tourism Technical Committee in order to enhance intergovernmental relations and strengthen the public private partnerships within the tourism fraternity in the province.
The Mandate of the committee is to provide advice to MUNIMEC and establish through a panel of representatives with regional community tourism interest, a path to achieve greater tourism and economic prosperity.
Setting the tone, Chief Director for Tourism Planning, Policy and Research, Ishmael Kgokong said that the re-establishment of such a structure is vital for sustainable growth of the tourism sector. He said the committee will also seek to address and mend the past plenary mishaps whereby government seemed to have been planning alone without the involvement of industry role players and relevant key stakeholders.
“The participation of all spheres of government in this forum is vital as it will ensure that there is inclusive coordinated planning and all parties will get to practically input their expressions so as to emerge with quality resolutions which will then ensure that there is proper planning going forward”, said Kgokong.
OJ Tshamboko, owner of OJ Travel and Tours Agency a tour operations company based in Dr. Kenneth Kaunda District said that the private sector is always willing and ready to work with government and its entities. He said that there is a dire need for strategic and sustainable public private partnership which will assist in creating sustainable local economic growth which will eventually influence growth in the entire tourism value chain.
“We call upon all tourism product owners to affiliate with various tourism associations in their area as this will enable them to have a strategic and professional approach to partnering with government institutions so as to develop one vision and approach to realising sustainable and responsible tourism. We hope that this forum will bear productive fruits in the near future”, said Tshamboko.
The Provincial Tourism Technical Committee is responsible for identifying strategic priorities and ensuring that there is an alignment between the tourism related objectives of the committee with those of various other local partners and other key stakeholders.
Constituted by both the public and private sector, the committee will be facilitated by the Provincial Department of Tourism (NWDOT) to guide and advice on development and implementation of priorities for tourism in the province at MUNIMEC which is an engagement forum for Municipalities and MEC.
