The Deputy Minister of Tourism Ms Tokozile Xasa returned from Fitur 2011 in high spirits after meeting with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Secretary General and Amadeus IT Group in Madrid, Spain. The meetings yielded positive results for both the country and the tourism industry in general with the UNWTO indicating its willingness to collaborate with South Africa for meetings of the UNWTO and related fora.
The Deputy Minister Xasa used her attendance of Fitur 2011 to, among other things, strengthen South Africa’s participation in the UNWTO and to interact with counterparts from other countries and share ideas on how to promote and improve the tourism industry. Fitur is a landmark exhibition for the hospitality industry designed to optimise the tourist potential and enhance the visitor flow across established and emerging destinations all over the world.
The Deputy Minister presented the awards on behalf of South African Tourism (SAT) to the Spanish travel agencies and tour operators who have in the past year contributed to the increased number of Spanish visitors gracing our shores. The award recipients were Mr Carlos Gonzalez of Nobel Tours, Ms Esther Gonzalez of Catai (no relation) and Ms Maryse Erasmus of Value SA, an operator responsible for the travel and accommodation bookings of the National Team of Spain who are today the FIFA 2010 World Cup Champions.
The Deputy Minister thanked them for sterling work they are doing to promote South Africa and their contribution to the increasing number of tourists visiting our country. The awards were given to these three Spanish tour operators because of their ongoing commitment to the destination over the past few years. The statistics also indicated that they were the three top tour operators in terms of the average number of tourists that they sent to South Africa annually.
The number of Spanish visitors in 2010 was more than double the number of visitors who came to South Africa compared to 2009. The 2010 figures, which are credited to the FIFA World Cup, increased to more than 11 000 as compared to about 5 000 during the same period in 2009.
In her meeting with the UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, the Deputy Minister Xasa thanked UNWTO for inviting South Africa to the annual international fair. She also expressed appreciation for the invite that included two local businessmen, Thabiso Magodielo of Legend Lodges, Hotels and Resorts and Cuthbert Ncube of Kwela Fleet Management. The two businessmen were selected by the UNWTO from a mound of business profiles of local industry players, especially the emerging ones, and they were subsequently invited to be part of the Fitur 2011.
The Secretary General urged the businessmen to consider joining the UNWTO as associate members. Fitur provides exposure to the UNWTO member countries and presents opportunities for the businesses to tackle business opportunities in their respective countries. The UNWTO hold South Africa in high esteem and hinted that they will in the future be willing to host events in the country and co-host of the events in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region in collaboration with the 2010 FIFA World Cup hosts. UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai emphasised the need to leverage on the success of the World Cup and use the skills acquired by South Africa to help improve and grow tourism in the SADC region and the continent.
The Deputy Minister informed the UNWTO about the government’s decision to prioritise tourism as one of the six key focus areas in the new growth path (NGP) which is aimed at boosting economic growth and creating jobs. Tourism is expected to create 225 000 jobs by 2020 to contribute to the government target of creating five million jobs by 2020 in the next decade. The UNWTO agrees that the initiative augurs well for the industry.
The discussions also looked at challenges faced by countries within the region and how South Africa can assist their neighbours in promoting tourism and placing it on the top of the agenda of their respective governments. In the past year South African tourism has grown above the industry average which stood at six percent worldwide compared to the country’s nine percent growth. There is an acknowledgement that the world economic recovery is happening but jobless growth will last until at least 2015.
The UNWTO praised South Africa for its efforts to contribute to the growth of the tourism industry and emphasised that the country is in heading in the right direction. On the sidelines of FITUR the Deputy Minister met with the Amadeus IT Group and discussed progress made on the Social Responsibility Programme that was launched by the Deputy Minister in South Africa last year and is being piloted in three provinces, Mpumalanga, North West and Western Cape. Some of the key focus areas of the discussions with the Amadeus group included the expansion of the Social Responsibility Programme to other seven provinces in South Africa.
The programme is aimed at using the Amadeus value chain surplus and expertise in a sustainable manner, to support development of social segments or communities in need and for the development of local tourism and technology. To date Amadeus has donated 100 computers with three hotel schools receiving 30 each with 10 computers going to the Amadeus Southern Africa. The first phase of training took place from 25 to 26 November 2010 at Mafikeng Hotel School for local trainers who will in turn are expected to train local Product Owners (bed and breakfast) in their respective provinces.
Both parties agreed that there is a need to communicate the benefits of the programme better by identifying platforms and opportunities for communication. With South Africa on a quest to create jobs and improve skills, the Amadeus initiative is helping to that effect.
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