Theme: 2010 now is the time
Our Honourable Premier
My Colleagues in the Executive Council
Members of Parliament and Legislature
Executive Mayor of Bojanala District Municipality
Other Executive Mayors of Districts and Local Municipalities present
Members of Mayoral Councils
Councillors from Different Municipalities
Dikgosi tsa rona tse di tlotlegang
Board Chairpersons of Tourism Authorities
CEOs of Tourism Authorities
Distinguished guests
Partners in the tourism sector
Ladies and gentlemen
It is indeed a great honour for me to be part of this important milestone and to address this 10th Provincial Tourism Lekgotla. I am greatly humbled by your turnout as our partners, to have availed your time to be part of this important annual gathering of the tourism and hospitality industry. The Provincial Tourism Lekgotla happens because it provides my department and our agency, the North West Parks and Tourism Board an opportunity to meet with you to review industry achievements and challenges, and to chart a way forward as a collective. Your views and wisdom, regarding the development, coordination and promotion of tourism in the province are important, as it has become the greatest engine of growth for the South African economy.
Recognition must be given to the private sector, which has played a key role in moving the industry forward. Tourism, though not a traditional sector by any means, has come a long way. Years of continuous investment by the stakeholders and important role players have helped to make positive contributions to the development and promotion of this sector not only in the province but countrywide.
Tourism has indeed become an engine of growth, capable of rejuvenating other sectors of the economy. Today, there are a lot of reasons why tourism should be celebrated. It is the world's largest generator of jobs and employs multiple skills; it creates entrepreneurial opportunities; it brings development to rural areas; it builds cross-cultural relations and is a vital force of peace; it is a foreign exchange generator par excellence, it brings tourism consumption markets For example South Africa welcomes millions of visitors from all over the world). This means that the potential market for tourism will continue to grow and therefore, it places challenges on the industry to be innovative in creating products which are appealing and diverse, coupled with good service and value for money.
Tourism has potential to influence visitor tastes and create export markets and linkages with other industries. Its demand is continuous because the consumption of travel takes place over one's lifetime. A holiday taken today does not reduce the demand for the holiday next year, next month, next weekend. This means that the potential market for tourism will continue to grow and therefore, it places challenges on the industry to be innovative in creating products which are appealing and diverse, coupled with good service and value for money.
Tourism review
- Destination marketing
Programme director, today a destination can be anything from a nation to a region, a city to a resort, an attraction to an event. One thing is for sure, destinations are finding themselves competing fiercely with a superfluity of other destination choices.
The tourist or visitor of today is definitely more educated and selective when choosing their destination, with far greater access to information and a variety of destination options. Thus, destination branding and marketing are critical and proactively managing a brand of a country, region, city, place or even a venue, is becoming a priority around the world. In fact, destination marketing is not only a way of attracting tourists or visitors but also a strategic means of increasing trade and investment. This obviously then translates into alleviating poverty and creating jobs, which serves as the cornerstone of the North West Parks and Tourism Board and cannot be overemphasised.
Ladies and gentlemen, marketing destination North West has always been a serious challenge. It would be unintelligent of any destination to assume that it operates in a vacuum. With the economy becoming more and more of a global village, we are affected by even the smallest of issues. It is even said that if the United States sneezes the whole world catches the flu.
With this global village closing in, it is no wonder that epidemics such as the H1N1 virus which started in Mexico has not only made its way to South African shores but has hit the North West province. The global economic meltdown reminds us of how susceptible we are to the economic flows of the world. All of these have had an influence on travelling patterns and the North West province of South Africa has not been immune to these challenges.
But, ladies and gentlemen, there is one factor that has assisted us tremendously - the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It would be the greatest folly in tourism history if we, as a province, do not jump on the band wagon of this mammoth event and milk it for all its worth. It is up to us whether we benefit from domestic, regional and international arrivals into the North West. It depends on how much resources we pump into marketing the destination for us to be able to reap the benefits not just during the cup itself but beyond.
We speak of the legacy and in order for this to become a reality we need to imprint into the minds of our consumers a treat that is unforgettable. We must remember that the tourist does not consume boarders or even the destination for that matter, the tourist consumes products. As such we need to ensure that the product portfolio is a diversified one and is differentiated from that of our competitors from other provinces. We need to ensure that as this years theme says we celebrate our diversity and market it domestically and internationally not only to attract new tourists but to retain our patriots and even go so far as to increase their length of stay and spend.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have for a while now spoken of business unusual. Our President, Mr Jacob Zuma reiterated this when he spoke of activist state machinery in his State of the Nation Address. He said and I paraphrase 'teachers must teach, learners must learn and people must go to work'. This clearly speaks to us. There is no room for complacency. No stone must be left unturned to ensure that the priorities not only of government but of the strategy put forth for tourism in the North West province be realised. Having said this, the North West province has submitted a request to re-visit its brand. The possibility may be that the brand North West no longer speaks to the market and this may be part of the reason for the province's dismal performance domestically, in recent years.
We must not be afraid to critically look at how we have been doing things and give the province a complete face lift that it desperately needs. The eventuality must be that we speak as a destination and not as fragments or sectors. In order for the destination North West to maximise exposure there must be an agreement on who we are, what we stand for and where we want to go.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, this, being the 10th annual Lekgotla means that we must have a genuine introspection of ourselves, robustly debate on whether we have achieved the goals set for us, and if not, let's ask why. We must leave here having clear set resolutions for the future, resolutions that are tangible and measurable. For destination North West to compete on equal footing with its counterparts we must benchmark against best practices and bend them to suit us.
- Product Development
Ladies and gentlemen, we have established a tradition to report progress made in growing and coordinating tourism in the province through this platform in the past nine years. The 10th Lekgotla provides yet another opportunity for us to provide important feedback on how we have progressed in the last twelve months, more importantly, as we get ready for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The range of tourism products and services, including tourist accommodation, has increased greatly in quantity and improved significantly in quality in recent years. There are at present, however, indications of underutilized capacity and falling margins which, if not redressed, could threaten reinvestment and the maintenance of standards in the future. Some remaining gaps exist in tourism infrastructure, most importantly the development of diversified value adding tourism products. There is also a need for an enhanced emphasis on product innovation and the better marketing and promotion of tourism products to meet changing customer requirements
- Enterprise development
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, we have managed to accelerate the Tourism Second Economy in the province through Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise (SMME) development. Over the past years, we provided assistance to tourism SMMEs with regard to first phase developments, marketing materials, participation in trade shows, quality assurance, legislation requirements and capacity building.
More specifically:
- Five new tour operators and 26 new small scale accommodation facilities were established, resulting in the creation of 68 permanent jobs.
- 809 tourism SMMEs were trained in Tourism Awareness, SA Host and Business Skills courses.
- 60 SMMEs were given the opportunity to exhibit their products at the annual Tourism Indaba Trade Show.
- Eight SMMEs participated at the International Trade Shows including World Travel Market, UK), International Tourism Bureau Germany), Africando Tourism Exchange Programme (USA).
- In 2009 51 SMMEs from the Province entered the Emerging Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year Award (ETEYA), which is the highest number of entries ever recorded in the Country. This shows the speed at which we are moving with Tourism SMME development.
- 2010 FIFA World Cup Readiness
Programme director, ladies and gentlemen, the 2010 FIFA World Cup presents us with the opportunity to position the North West province as a viable tourist destination. We view this world soccer tournament as a conducive platform for us to package and present the tourism products to the world markets. Our main challenge (as raised by FIFA President) is in the accommodation sub-sector. The current information on accommodation indicates that we will need:
- about 1 400 beds from one-star accommodation facilities that includes mainly overnight accommodation, motels, backpackers.
- about 4 300 beds from two-star accommodation facilities that includes mainly B&Bs, country houses.
- about 12 100 beds from three-star accommodation facilities that include mainly Guest Houses, Country Lodges, Road Lodges; and
- about 4 200 beds from four-star and five-star accommodation facilities that include mainly Hotels, Game Lodges, Resorts
Programme director, there are about 18 000 beds currently available throughout the province, and this calls upon us to look at all options which can help us increase our bed capacity. One of the options which have been identified is to establish temporary accommodation facilities such as tented camps. We invite you the industry stakeholders to come up with other options in this regard. It becomes even more challenging judging from the fact that we are likely to have four team-based camps in the Province.
- Tourism sector performance
Ladies and gentlemen, the North West tourism sector performed remarkably well in 2008. About 641 850 international visitors were received by the province in 2008. This represents growth of about 6,2 percent over the 2007 number.
- 2008 saw a relatively strong performance from our key source markets – Botswana, China, India, Brazil, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, USA and Australia controlling over a third of all international visitor arrivals to the province.
- The sector generated an estimated R1.92 billion in tourism revenue in 2008, compared with nearly R1,63 billion tourism revenue recorded in 2007.
- Based on the review by the Human Science Resource Council of South Africa, the number of direct and indirect full-time equivalent jobs supported by the Province’s tourism sector was estimated to be 72 744 compared with the previous year’s figure of 68 504.
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, our hospitality industry also performed well in 2008 with most of the accommodation establishments recording occupancy rates of 80 percent or more during summer and others recording occupancy rates of 60 to 79 percent during winter. On the whole, 2008 was a banner year for the province's hospitality sub-sector:
- Total bed-nights went up from 1,88 million in 2007 to 2,02 million a growth of about 7,7 percent.\
- With nearly R194,5 billion tourism share of national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and our bed-night spend of 2,7 percent of all bed-night spent by international visitors to South Africa. The province's estimated tourism sector share of GDP stood at R5,3 billion compared with the previous year's figure of nearly R4,5 billion.
Programme director and distinguished guests, undoubtedly our standing in the domestic market looks shaky in terms of domestic trips and revenue generation:
- The number of domestic trips made to the Province dropped from about 2,0 million in 2007 to about 1,2 million in 2008. A drop of about 40 percent.
- Between 2006 and 2008, the number of domestic trips to the Province dropped by about 45 percent.
- Domestic tourism revenue has also been on a downward trend since 2005. In fact revenue from domestic tourism dropped from R1,11 billion to R0,94 billion in 2008, representing a drop of about 15.3 percent in domestic tourism revenue.
Challenges
Programme director, ladies and gentlemen; while it is encouraging to see the tourism sector growing relatively strong especially internationally, there are a number of challenges that will need urgent attention.
- Even though the current state of accommodation occupancy throughout the Province is somehow healthy, the fact that some of our visitors may have been experiencing difficulties in securing sufficient accommodation cannot be overlooked. There is a need for us to facilitate an adequate supply of rooms and the right mix of accommodation for our visitors, more especially for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and for the years ahead.
- Manpower is another area that we will have to address. With the positive outlook for the tourism and hospitality sector, we will need to focus our efforts on developing a skilled tourism workforce to develop and manage our tourism industry. As sector participants, we all have a part to play in raising the skills and competencies of our employees by investing in their training.
- As key participants in the sector, it will be fulfilling to see employers taking pro-active steps to redesign existing jobs so that they will command higher wages, and become more appealing to locals who normally form the bulk of their workforce.
- It is a timely reminder that as sector participants, there is an urgent need to raise our service standards in order to be competitive and attractive as a preferred destination. Only by a relentless pursuit of excellence in the services that we provide, can we ensure that visitors who visit the Province will leave with memorable experiences.
- The integration of efforts to provide the necessary tourism and related infrastructure cannot be over-emphasised. This is an area that will need to be prioritised as a matter of urgency
Transforming of the sector
Ladies and gentlemen, in order to be competitive and attractive as a preferred destination, a number of transformational steps would have to be taken and quickly.
- Firstly, there is a need to enhance the range of products that we can offer to our visitors. There is a need to bring in exciting products that will not only transform our tourism landscape but also draw millions of visitors to our province.
- Transforming our tourism industry is not just about improving the services that we provide to visitors. It is also about spotting trends and bringing in exciting products or concepts that will have a strong appeal to specific segments of visitors who come to the Province, specifically from our major source markets.
Programme director and distinguished guests:
In recognition of these challenges, the province is currently busy with the integrated approach towards the Provincial Tourism Development Plan. This is as a result of the Local Government Tourism Indaba which was held in Cape Town early this year. We hope to come up with a master plan which will guide and direct the development programmes in the province. It is therefore important to know that we have begun to engage municipalities in this regard and hope that by the end of the year, through our facilitation, we will be having an integrated plan in place.
Looking to the future
The New Vision for tourism in the North West province should be that of a dynamic, innovative, sustainable and highly-regarded sector offering international and domestic customers a positive and memorable experience beyond their expectations.
Our mission should be to promote responsible and sustainable tourism as a means of economic growth and social integration and to promote the image of the North West Province nationally and internationally with a vibrant present and a bright future. Plans and Policies to achieve this will be evolved around six broad areas such as:
- market information and intelligence
- tourism development facilitation
- safety and security
- cooperation and integrated planning and development
- infrastructure development
- utilisation of conservation and heritage for economic benefit, cognisance of natural environments
- promotion of quality tourist products.
The North West tourism industry is at a crossroads. It requires a new strategy to chart the way forward at a pivotal point in its evolution. It has come through a period of major development and success, probably the most successful decade in its history.
Today, it faces major changes in the international economic and geopolitical environment, very different to those which helped to underpin its success in the past. Significant changes have emerged in the profile of its customer base, both domestically and internationally.
The competition that it faces from traditional competitors has intensified in the face of a downturn in world tourism and some uncertainty about the immediate future. At the same time new competitors from elsewhere might have entered the market in which our tourism has traditionally competed.
In common with all internationally traded services, global tourism is experiencing significant change. A vast array of product offerings are becoming available, encompassing traditional leisure pursuits, new entertainment and retail complexes, simple back-to-nature and health-related activities, cultural and heritage experiences and combinations of different product offerings. Many new tourism destinations are opening up providing increasing choice to customers.
Easy access to these destinations is becoming common place and cheaper. Customer characteristics are changing rapidly including shorter and more frequent trips, greater use of technology, more tailored holiday experiences and growth in the consumption share of the market.
Tourism will, in future, be increasingly demand driven with greater emphasis being placed on value for money, personal fulfilment, unique experiences, authenticity, emotional involvement and travel convenience.
A successful North West province tourism industry in the years ahead will be an industry that is more self-reliant, agile and adaptable to change in the market place. The industry has shown, over the past decade and more, its capacity to adapt. It has many strengths including, and beyond, those available when the industry started on an extraordinarily successful development path in the past.
Central to the success of tourism in the years ahead will be a recovery of the competitiveness issues that have been lost in recent years. To address these issues a new strategy for tourism is needed which clearly sets out a new way forward in the context of the fundamental changes now affecting the industry. Such a strategy or intervention path model will have to clearly define and encompass the following:
- A clear vision of where the North West province tourism wants to go and understanding of the underlying forces that are shaping the industry at present and those that will continue to do so in the future.
- The establishment of challenging targets and objectives for the industry going forward.
- A knowledge of the factors that will drive success in the industry.
- An enhanced capability to innovate and respond effectively to unforeseen circumstances
- A decision-making framework that facilitates the formulation of such a strategy and its implementation through consistent and decisive actions at government level and across the different sectors of the industry itself.
The fundamental principles that should guide the success of the industry should therefore be premised on the facts that:
- tourism growth is driven by private sector enterprise, innovation and investment.
- the need for a consistent framework of well chosen actions across all areas of Government and industry activities.
- targeted public sector interventions that are confined to market failure in close partnership with the industry.
As you deliberate during the Lekgotla you may realise or identify the need for substantive change in key areas of government policies, in the delivery of that policy by the spheres of Government and their Agencies, in the work of the industry representative bodies and importantly, at the level of individual enterprises throughout the industry.
The effectiveness and efficiency, with which the changes may be required, anticipated managed and delivered, will determine the future success of our industry as a sector of private sector investment opportunity, innovation and enterprise, and as an instrument of Government’s social and economic development.
The fundamental components of that anticipated change will require a new framework and set of related actions that continue to promote strong, self-reliant, profitable, innovative, customer-focused tourism enterprises an industry that itself anticipates and embraces the changing needs of its customer base both domestic and international visitors and offers to each customer a product, service and experience which surpasses that available from alternative providers both at home and elsewhere.
The longer term strategy and more immediate action plan should provide a coherent framework of actions for the development of the industry, at this stage of its evolution, particularly taking account of the fact that the majority of businesses are small and medium in size. The strategy and action plan will facilitate the ongoing processes, recommended as an inherent element of the development process for the industry going forward.
The process will be led by the Department Economic Development and Tourism and the North West Parks and Tourism Board and will encompass State Agencies, other government departments whose policies and actions significantly affect tourism, and, importantly, in collaboration with representatives of the key sectors of the industry itself. This arrangement will further enhance the need to maintain and sustain effective institutional arrangements to manage and grow the industry in our province
I would like to take this opportunity to wish all the delegates well in their deliberations. I am very hopeful that the outcome of the 10th Tourism Lekgotla, will map an achievable growth path for the tourism industry in the North West province. I would also like to encourage all of you, to keep constant communication and contact with each other, as organisations and individuals, so that we are able to employ a concerted effort in the development and growth of this noble industry
I thank you all,
Kea a le leboga,
Enkosi,
Baie dankie
Ya-khensa
