R Mabudafhasi: Launch of Tourism Month

23 August 2006

Tourism enriches

Programme Director,
Premier Thabang Makwetla,
Honourable MEC Sipho Lubisi,
Mayors present with us today,
Members of the media,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen:

It gives me immense pleasure to address you today at this important occasion
of the launch of the Tourism Month. The World Tourism Day’s theme for 2006 is
“Tourism Enriches”, a very relevant theme for us and one that demands of us to
take action and grow the tourism industry for the benefit our people. It is
imperative that we translate this theme into pragmatic community programmes
that will inform and educate our people on how tourism could truly enrich them
economically, socially and culturally.

The World Tourism Day is an annual event designed to foster awareness among
the international community of the importance of tourism and its social,
cultural, political and economic values. In South Africa we have decided to
dedicate September as the Tourism Month. It is during this month that we
showcase the unique diverse and tourism experiences in our nine provinces.

Programme Director, the tourism sector has been identified as one of the
immediate priority sectors for the Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative for
South Africa (AsgiSA) and as one of the key contributors to the targeted six
percent economic growth. The tourism sector has experienced impressive growth
in recent years. Tourism’s overall performance compared to key economic sectors
in South Africa is also very good. Compared to other sectors that were
similarly identified by government as key growth sectors, tourism was the only
sector that grew both in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contribution and
employment.

Estimates of the contribution to South Africa’s GDP by the tourism sector
tend to range from 7,5 to 10 percent of total GDP. The total amount spent
directly in South Africa by foreign tourists in 2004 is estimated at over R50
billion. To date, the contribution to employment is estimated at 512 000 direct
tourism jobs. Put simply, more tourists will generate more jobs for our
people.

I am also very proud to announce that South African tourism has made a major
breakthrough in terms of understanding the domestic market. We now have the
first annual report on domestic travel which is based on monthly surveys of
incidence of travel in South Africa in 2005.

The results in this report are breath-taking; it shows that 36,2 million
domestic trips were undertaken in 2005 resulting in R21,2 billion of direct
spending with the average spend of R585,00 per trip. In addition, a record of
154,9 million bed nights was achieved with an average length of stay of 4,3
nights. The most visited province in 2005 was KwaZulu-Natal. Our challenge now
is to market other provinces so that we can maximise the spin-offs from
domestic tourism.

South Africa is not only a world class destination for holiday travel, we
are also very fortunate be regarded as one of the best destinations for
business meetings in developing countries especially in Africa. We already
account for more than 63 percent of all conference activities in Africa.

I am certain that hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup will further improve our
profile and capacity to stage international events. We can only achieve this
through partnerships with the private sector, labour and communities to address
priority issues such as:
* The provision of adequate and safe accommodation for visitors. The work done
by the grading council is very important in terms of the quality assurance of
accommodation, conference, restaurant, golf courses and other facilities.

* Establishment of a diverse and vibrant range of tourism products for
visitors in order to keep them satisfied throughout their stay. This calls for
innovation, creativity and dedication amongst all the role players in the
industry. We will also work with the tour operators to develop tour packages
for World Cup visitors.

* Capacity building and skills development to ensure the provision of an
efficient tourism service. One of our immediate priorities is training guides
to speak various foreign languages. To this end we have already started to
provide foreign language training in Chinese, French, German and Spanish. There
are plans to develop programmes in other languages like Arabic, Italian,
Portuguese, Russian, etc. These skills development programmes are part and
parcel of our contribution to the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills
Acquisition (JIPSA) which is being led by our Deputy President. The forthcoming
tourism conference which will be held in October will unpack various skills
development issues in this industry and find ways of accelerating the
interventions required.

* Tourism marketing especially through the 2010 Soccer World Cup, to
increase international awareness of South Africa as a premier tourist
destination. It is therefore also important to intensify South Africa tourism’s
marketing campaign called ‘Business Unusual’ so that our tourists are well
aware of the different products available in our country.

* Public transport to ensure that visitors are able to access our numerous
and beautiful tourist attractions in the most efficient way possible. We are
also working closely with the Department of Transport and private entities to
ensure that there is sufficient and safe transport for tourists.

Despite these encouraging developments, the reality is that South Africa has
only just scratched the surface in terms of growing the tourism industry.

South African tourism in its strategic research programme over the last
three years has identified bands of consumer segments in key markets who are
not only frequent long haul leisure travellers for whom holidays to faraway
places are an essential part of life but are also positive towards South Africa
and actively interested in visiting our country. The large number of such
people out there should serve as a clear indication of the potential market
that still needs to be tapped into.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Koffi Annan, once said ”it is
the absence of broad-based business activity not its presence that condemns
much of humanity to suffering.” Indeed what is utopian is the notion that
poverty can be overcome without the active engagement of business”. These
remarks are quite fitting for the business situation in our tourism industry.
From a socio-economic perspective benefits within the tourism industry are not
yet broad-based since most of our people are excluded from accessing business
opportunities.

While tourism contributes significantly to our economy, it is one of the
least transformed industries in the country. Although it is a daunting task
transformation in this industry is a very critical process because we need to
create economic development opportunities for previously disadvantaged people
and give hope to those who are not employed.

Related to this is the issue of broadening economic participation to
previously disadvantaged individuals. The benefits of this broadened economic
participation can be geographically spread across the country more so than in
other sectors. To us as government, Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) makes
competitive business sense as it will introduce innovation with new players
entering the industry and bringing along their skills and expertise.

In accordance with the legislative framework on Broad-Based Black Economic
Empowerment (BBBEE), the Department has established a council for the
implementation of the BEE Charter which has been in operation since 2005.

The goal of the BEE Tourism Charter Council is to provide information that
allows all citizens to access economic opportunities in the tourism industry.
This process must be well informed so as to benefit all stakeholders and in
that way meet the desired objectives of BBBEE.

Programme Director, we need to make concerted efforts to remove our people
from the poverty trap and achieve the United Nations Millennium Declaration on
halving the number of people living on less than a dollar a day by 2015. We
need to create and promote new products to sustain the tourism industry and
consolidate its role on poverty eradication.

We must develop community-based tourism programmes that take into account
the needs, culture, indigenous knowledge and aspirations of our people. From a
product development and marketing perspective we need to give priority to
cultural tourism and encourage tourists to visit our areas and experience our
traditional ways of living. Tourists are very interested in learning and
experiencing our unique culture. The notion that tourists are only interested
in visiting cities and game reserves is both false and misleading. An
increasing number of tourists are visiting our townships and communities. It is
therefore important that we plan, develop and market tourism routes in our
local areas.

Programme Director, another form of tourism that is very successful but not
given enough importance and profile is religious tourism. Religious tourism has
been identified as one of the potential growth segments within the tourism
industry throughout the world.

To this end the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) in partnership with Cyprus
Tourism Organisation (CTO) is organising the first International Conference on
Religious Tourism to be held in Nicosia, Cyprus on 19 - 21 October 2006. This
is in recognition of the importance of religious tourism all over the world.
The linkages between religion and tourism need to be fully communicated to
ensure further growth of the tourism industry. In our country we have shining
examples on how religious tourism enriches our people spiritually. One such
example is the most visible increase in movement of tourists to different
provinces for religious purposes during the Easter period.

Programme Director, its unfortunate that despite the critical role played by
women in this industry they are often expected to justify their involvement and
participation. We have a challenge to positively embrace their participation as
they bring along a unique voice to the industry. Women are always present
around tourist sites where they prepare local food, sell fruits and vegetables,
handicrafts and other items of tourist attraction. As the Women’s Month moves
towards the end let us do everything possible to support women’s active
participation in all facets of the tourism industry for without them there can
be no tourism growth.

Through the employment of women, youth, people with disabilities and other
vulnerable members of society, tourism can play a vital role towards achieving
social equity and a better life for all.

In conclusion, Programme Director, I wish to caution that we need to guard
against ill-conceived tourism development initiatives that may result in
environmental degradation and depletion of natural resources. We must promote
responsible tourism which embraces the principles of environmental
sustainability and biodiversity conservation as part of its core business.

I thank you!

Issued by: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
23 August 2006