Budget Vote 10 Speech: Department of Tourism, North West Province 2018
Matthew 25: 14 - 30 – Parable of Talent with emphasis on verse 19- 22:
“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the 5 talents brought the other five. Master, he said, you entrusted me with 5 talents. See, I have gained 5 more.
The Master responded well done, good and faithful servant. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness! The man with the 2 talents also came. Master, he said, you entrusted me with 2 talents, see, I have gained 2 more. His Master replied, well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with few things and I will put you in charge of many things”.
Honourable Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the North West Provincial Legislature;
Tonakgolo ya Profense ya Bokone Bophirima, Motlotlegi Rre S O R Mahumapelo;
Esteemed Members of the Executive Council;
Honourable Members of the Provincial Legislature;
Executive Mayors, Mayors, Speakers and Councillors present;
Magosi a rona a a tlotlegang a eteletswe pele ke Motlotlegi Kgosi Mabe;
Director General and DDGs in the Office of the Premier;
Head of Department and the Staff of the Department of Tourism;
Chairperson & Members, CEO and staff of the North West Tourism Board;
Representatives of all Tourism establishments across the province;
Leaders of Unions; Community and faith-based Organisations;
Students from our Mahikeng and Taung Hotel Schools;
All Media Houses represented here today;
Comrades and Friends,
Ke a lo dumedisa lotlhe Baagi ba Profense ya Bokone Bophirima.
Honourable Speaker and Members of the House, 2018 has been declared as the commemoration of the centenary of two of our esteemed stalwarts, the 1st democratic President of the Republic of South Africa, President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela and the prominent leader of the ANC, ANC Women’s League and the Federation of South African Women and the United Democratic Front Umama Albertina Nontsikelelo Sisulu.
They are both remembered for their resilience, strength, compassion and tireless commitment to the people of this country, and for that we are grateful and humbled.
The North West Department of Tourism will draw lessons and inspiration from their lives as we confront challenges of the present, while looking to the future with optimism. We shall use whatever platform presented to us to unite, rebuild and renew the pledge they took in the past and intensify our work to build the free and equitable society for which they so hard fought for.
We shall renew our focus on these stalwart’s vision of a non -racial society in which social and economic barriers are removed for the emancipation of our people and economic growth of our country.
The industry is still grappling with transformation and as a department we will continue to address these challenges to ensure equal access and benefit for all our citizens irrespective of race.
Honourable Speaker, the province has set Tourism as part of the ACT pillar thus recognizing the sector as one of the pillars of our economy not just here in our province but in the country and this is reinforced by Cabinet’s recognition of the gains the sector continues to yield. The North West province is an investment and tourism destination of choice and we should stop doubting our relevance.
We have great stories to tell about our culture and tradition; our history; our unique ways of using the fauna and the flora as taught by our grandparents; our parks; our unique names for our animals, to mention but a few.
Honourable Speaker, I'm reminded of the words uttered by the great icon we are celebrating this year, Isithwalandwe Utata Nelson Mandela when addressing the launch of the Kruger National Park centenary celebrations held at Skukuza when he said "Rural communities not only have the opportunity now to become involved as entrepreneurs.
They can also be active agents in meaningful programmes of conservation, tourism and environmental community education. In so doing they will contribute to the sustainable use of our environment, and at the same time dispel the myth that this is a preserve of a rich elite. These efforts will be strengthened by co-operation between communities, conservation authorities and private operators."
By so saying, Madiba was calling on communities to take advantage of this growing industry of hospitality in general. Le rona jaaka Lefapha la Bojanala mo porofenseng ya Bokone Bophirima, re ikamanya le mantswe ano a gagwe, re rotloetsa baagi ba rona segolo jang ba metse magae mmogo le ba metse setoropo go emelela ka dinao batsene mo mofameng ono watsa Bojanala.
Honourable Speaker, communities in and around our game parks, especially around the Madikwe area, are a living proof of this statement and they are reaping the benefits of their land.
Honourable Speaker, the contribution of the sector is measured by the number of jobs it creates and its contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the amount of revenue created from activities within the sector. Honourable speaker, the tourism sector is fundamentally a collaborative sector made up of a complex web of stakeholders.
This is a depiction of the ACT cluster value chain e.g. CATA – paintings in and around our establishments by our local artists; food in our kitchens from our agricultural sector etc. It is important that all of us, in government and the private sector pull in the same direction.
Honourable Speaker, we gather here today on this wonderful day to take stock of what we did in the previous financial year and chart a way forward for the coming 12 months. Honourable Speaker, allow me also to remind this house that despite the economic downturn as a country the tourism sector remained resilient as we fought gallantly and courteously to make sure that we yield the desired fruits at the ultimate end.
Motlotlegi Mmusa Kgotla 2018, will not be a joy ride for all of us as we are heading for the national elections to be held in 2019. We will require all hands on deck, not only from us as government but from everyone.
As relates to our sector we have opened doors for our VTSD communities: we have trained youth in our hotel schools who are placed in establishments across the province; we have seen new product owners emerge and will continue to grow, amongst others.
We will require collaboration with other government departments to ensure that we service our product owners better: improvement of access roads to establishments; provision of basic services to our establishments; engagements with national departments like Home Affairs on border operating times as well as access to visa stations for our international travellers to mention but a few.
Honourable speaker, though the industry was faced with multiple challenges especially in the past year, it's not all doom and gloom. The contribution to the provincial GDP for the fiscal year 2017 was 10.3% compared to 9.8% in the 2016 fiscal year. This clearly shows that steadily and surely we are growing as a province.
Honourable Speaker, there's some light as we are told by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). The WTTC forecasts that the sector will contribute R424.5bn to the overall SA economy in 2018 - about 3% more than in 2017.This is good news for the country and the province.
Honourable Members and the Premier we can assure you that the tourism sector is heading in the right direction.
Looking at Markets Investments Framework, Domestic holiday trips increased in 2017 by approximately 12% which resulted in the domestic holiday target being achieved.
Holiday trips in 2017 were higher than 2016 levels in nine of the twelve months, declining in May, August and December. About 13% of total domestic holiday trips were taken in December 2017, a much smaller share compared to December 2016. Despite the increase in domestic holiday trips, total domestic trips amounted to 17.1 million trips.
This is a decrease of approximately 29% over 2016, and is driven by an estimated 41% decline in VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives) trips. The consumer in SA faced strong headwinds in 2017 with a recession early in the year and unemployment remaining high. These conditions had a far reaching effect on consumers and domestic tourism in particular the VFR segment.
The National Department of Tourism and South African Tourism last year launched the 5 in 5 strategy under the theme “We do Tourism”.
Honourable Speaker, when we say “We do Tourism”, we mean exactly that in the North West Province, we live and breathe Tourism in all its forms and we remain committed to ensuring the growth of the sector for the benefit of our VTSD communities. We confirm SAT’s view that “tourism is the shining beacon of hope in our 24 year old economy”.
The North West Province, though rural, is not fairing badly at all in relation to international arrivals. Out of our target of 1 million target for international arrivals, the province managed to attain 800 000 (translating to 81%) and ranked number six in the country compared to other provinces. On the domestic front the target was 1.3 million and we managed to attract 1.24 million trips translating to 92% of our target.
We remain committed to reaching our 5 in 5 target and hitting the 100% mark. We are confident that our efforts to market the province at international trade fares and in the SADC region will yield results.
The Tourism Board has done research in conjunction with North West University that showed a huge growth in our domestic market performance. The research shows that we had 1.8 million trips as opposed to the reported 1.2 million by SAT. We will continue to use our market intelligence to gather data on tourists visiting our province from all quarters of the world.
Budget Allocation 2018/2019
Motlotlegi Mmusa Kgotla ledi la rona la Lefapha la tsa Bojanala monongwaga le eme jaana:
Honourable Members, with this financial allocation we will continue to strive and change the lives of our people
.
Ours is to make sure that we make each cent count. Motlotlegi Mmusa Kgotla gatwe mmupudu ga o butswe go ya ka dikeletso tsa tshwene, mme fela bonnye jo re bo abetsweng bo tla dirisiwa sentle ka matsetseleko. Seno ke go netefatsa fa re isa ditirelo le diphetogo ko bathong ba rona ka nako tsotlhe.
Guided by the National Development Plan, we aim to restore our focus on building an economy in which all people of the North West can flourish, an economy which benefits the people as a whole, rather than a privileged few.
The department seeks an open, dynamic platform that will embrace technological innovation, pursue high productivity in all its forms, create jobs that pay better and improves the quality of the lives of people in the North West Province. This is in line with the UNWTO 2018 theme of a digitized sector where we can view tourism arrivals at the touch of a button.
Our vision as a department encourages and welcomes investment from all quarters while in the same breath we offer policy certainty and always look for ways to unlock the barriers that inhibit growth and social inclusion. Our commitment is to build strong partnerships in which the sector and all its role players work towards the common good.
Motlotlegi Mmusa Kgotla mo ngwageng o o fetileng wa dichelete (2017/18) re itemogetse dikgwetlho mo lefapheng dingwe tse ke dumelang gore monongwaga ga di kitla di ipoeletsa gape. Ke tshepa ebile ke dumela fa re ithutile go tswa mo go tsone, mme re le boboa ntlha ka seno sebaka. Mme fela fa e le gore dingwe tsa tsone di itirile ditumoga, gone re tla kua mokgosi re kope thuso go ba ba maleba, go nne tota bontsi bo bolaya noga ebile kgetsi ya tsie e kgonwa fela ka go tshwaraganelwa.
Some of our challenges include but are not limited to:
- Lack of adequate office space for the Department and Tourism Board – we still plead with the Department of Public Works and Roads to assist;
- The lack of office space that impact negatively on filling of positions;
- The unfunded mandate of the Taung and Dr KK Hotel schools – the Portfolio Committee on READ and Tourism had committed to assisting us with this and we are still waiting;
- The correction of the baseline of the Tourism Board after the disestablishment of the North West Parks and Tourism Board – Treasury we are still waiting.
- Insufficient marketing budget for the North West Tourism Board to fulfil their core mandate of marketing the province both locally and internationally.
- Community uprising in Taung that have negatively impacted on progress in our infrastructure development.
- Despite the challenges Honourable Speaker I am pleased to say we have kept our heads above water and have performed very well as a department. We have made the most of the little that we are given and will not be deterred from going from strength to strength. Some of our milestones include:
- The Tourism Board fully assumed all marketing roles which previously the department had to assist with;
- The Tourism Board managed to showcase and market Destination Bokone Bophirima in the following platforms: Meetings Africa in Sandton; Tourism Indaba in Durban; Getaway; International Jazz Festival in Cape Town; WTM Africa (Cape Town); Botswana Marketing Activation in Gaborone where after we hosted 10 agents and media for a 5 day familiarisation trip in the province); Mahika Mahikeng Festival; Serbia Tourism Exhibition in Belgrade (collaboration with YUTA – which is an organization representing all tour operators in Eastern Europe – with the intention of having them come over for a familiarisation trip with Turkish Airlines; World Travel Market (WTM) in London, ITB in Berlin - this yielded 170 crew members for the German idols in the Pilanesburg Sun City nodal area for a programme viewed by 8 million Germans and syndicated in Switzerland and Austria; we will in December host 200 travel agents and tour operators for a period of 5 days in the Bojanala area hosting programmes together with South African Tourism in Germany; in March co-hosted with SAT, 10 Australian agents from Flight centre Australia; Africa Mega familiarization trip including countries like Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Mozambique, to name but a few.
- The department participated in the International Tourist Guide day celebration event held in Hoedspruit, Limpopo where our newly trained Tourist guides from DR KK graduated.
- Hosted the Provincial Lilizela Tourism Awards at the Mahikeng Hotel School. The awards saw 23 well deserving establishments being awarded certificates confirming their excellence in their different sectors.
- The successful launch of the North West Women in Tourism Chapter.
- Hosted a speed marketing session with South African Tourism in the province
- Successfully participated in the National Tourism Careers Expo.
Honourable Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to announce to this august House that the North West Department of Tourism put in a bid to host NTCE for 2018 to 2020 and we have been awarded the bid. This is a major coup for us as it will take our vision of reaching our learners in the VTSD areas to explore careers in tourism, hospitality and the total value chain and help us grow the sector.
Almost at most institutions, you will proudly see students from our hotel schools: please stop and say hi and encourage them because they are putting our province on the map. It would please us no end to have the Portfolio Committee members join us for the big announcement of the NTCE bid award to the North West Province at the Durban Indaba starting on 07th to 10th May 2018.
Again allow me the pleasure of announcing that the Tourism Board has won the bid to train tourism and hospitality industry personnel in Food and Beverage Operations in Botswana. The amount for the bid is P4 448 200(four million four hundred and forty eight thousand and two hundred Pula’s) and the amount covers tuition, meals and accommodation for 120 students. The training is for a period of 6 months.
Honourable members, the North West Province has set itself a target of being the 4th most visited Province by the year 2020 which we believe is achievable. To achieve this cannot be business as usual. The current fiscal year will see the Department through Tourism Planning focusing on four key mandate areas namely:
- Effective Destination Marketing: This relates to the continued re-positioning of the province as a preferred destination of choice. The Board with the support of the department will effectively implement tourism market activations and campaigns through various platforms both domestic and internationally
- Destination Management and Development: The matter relates to the practices, activities and relationships that help organise the entire tourism sector. The department will enhance integrated planning, development of standards, guidelines, regulations, research, roles and responsibilities and the further development of structures and processes that organise information flows and relationships between various stakeholders to optimize destination performance. The major reason is to ensure effective and proactive destination management which is critical for destination competitiveness.
- Visitor Experience: The provision of quality visitor experiences and services to both domestic and international tourists is critical for the province.
- Quality services and standards will ensure tourism satisfaction and repeat visitations. The Department and the Board will push for the enhancement of all visitor touch points, including heritage sites.
- Provincial and Municipal owned attractions which have potential for innovation and improvement, destination enhancements at important tourists sites which must be supported through employment creating schemes that provide safety, information, cleanliness, attractiveness and tourist infrastructure needed to meet visitor demand and the development of new tourism experience.
- Community Based Tourism Beneficiation: The Department has recently completed a research study that looked at socio economic impact assessment on North West Communities. It is clear from this research that there is a lot that needs to be done to ensure that communities in the province play a pivotal role in the tourism mainstream economy. This will resonate well with the focus on VTSD economies as pronounced by the Provincial Government.
The main focus will be on transformation, rural and township tourism development, enterprise development and investment in the sector. The department has already started consultations with various stakeholders to clearly map tourism potentials in far flung areas. Our intention is to implement a cluster approach in the development of tourism attractions where there is a conglomerate of such tourism opportunities.
Honourable Speaker, moving forward we intend to continue with tourism skills development programmes through youth hospitality and youth tourism safety monitor training programme which will recruit 100 leaner’s to participate in the programme. The National Department is funding this project and we intend making it a huge success and attract more funding from NDT to implement other programmes.
Honourable Speaker, the national Department of Tourism has been a great support to the province and we wish to express our gratitude for the confidence they have in us as a province to implement their programmes. We wish to take this opportunity to express our sincerest gratitude to Honourable Minister Derek Hanekom and Honourable Deputy Minister Elizabeth Thabethe for the confidence they have shown in us as a province.
We want to assure the Honourable Deputy Minister that we aim to deliver an NTCE befitting our status as a province of excellence. Our gratitude also is on the commitment by the national Department of Tourism following sign off by national treasury to finalize infrastructure development at Manyane Game Reserve and Lotlamoreng Dam.
Honourable Speaker, we are pleased to announce that at the recent Australian Global Women Summit, South Africa presented the Chefs Training programme and this was adjudicated as the best youth training programme and the country was awarded $5 000 as prize money. The province is proud that it has 200 youths from the VTSD areas participating in the very Youth Hospitality Programme.
This is testimony of the standard of our programmes and that we can be proud to place our learners in any market in the world.
Honourable Speaker in aligning ourselves with the approbation from the President of South Africa Honourable Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa on promoting a healthy lifestyle, the North West Department of Tourism is living testimony to this. In the recent instalment of the SADC Inter Tourism Games, yet again, the North West province represented South Africa very well by being crowned overall winners of the annual games.
In auctioning the healthy living campaign, the province collected gold trophies for soccer and netball; silver in tug of war and bronze in volleyball and music.
The games are a crucial platform for marketing and promoting our destination, networking and contribution to development and growth of the sector in the SADC region.
The North West Department of Tourism is determined to build an economy that reverses apartheid injustices and address the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality. Honourable Speaker, tourism is government led, private sector driven and community based and all these sectors need each other for tourism to thrive. You have our commitment to making this work for the good of all our people.
Conclusion
Honourable Speaker, we shall undertake a deliberate effort into making sure that we prioritise our people’s needs. This will be achieved by operations that are transparent, efficient and credible at all times, thus building an investment route for the North West province.
I would like to thank the Honourable Premier and Members of the Executive Council for the continued support; the African National Congress for entrusting me with this portfolio; Members of the Legislature particularly the Portfolio Committee on READ & Tourism and the communities of the province for your oversight and guidance.
We need to strive to make sure that we serve with diligence and our policies, priorities and programmes remain streamlined towards achieving the desired outcomes that favour our people.
To the Management and staff of the department, our journey is long and hard but I am confident that we will see victory.
The Chairperson, Members of the Board, CEO and staff, lets continue to forge ahead – we can see the light at the end of this tunnel.
To my family, my husband Rre Mohono, thanks for standing by me throughout this journey of serving our people. To my lovely children Pana, Munaka, Koki, Motlalepule, Tshepi and Princess I am truly blessed to have you in my life and for that I am grateful.
Ke a leboga - I thank you!
