Programme Director,
Dignitaries Present,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
All protocol observed.
On behalf of the provincial government of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and the people of this province, we wish to express our delight for being part of this occasion where we are witnessing the launch of Mzansi Fo Sho Festival, a festival which we have no doubt that it will continue to assist us in our on-going efforts to market the province of KwaZulu-Natal as the preferred tourism destination of choice in the country.
Programme Director, as the province of KwaZulu-Natal we are thrilled to be associated with one of the most powerful brands in the country, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).
As all of us know, SABC 1 is not only the biggest television channel in the country but has one of the widest broadcasting footprints, reaching a diverse audience in all the corners of our country. But, what makes us all the more excited about this initiative is that as the province of KwaZulu-Natal we will be able, to, from a marketing perspective, leverage on the entire broadcasting portfolio of SABC.
As all of us know, SABC, with 18 radio stations and three television stations, is by far one of the broadcasting giants in the country. Programme Director, as the province of KwaZulu-Natal, we have embarked on an aggressive campaign to build on the gains we have over the years amassed to ensure that our province continues to be the net attractor of domestic tourism. One of the strategies we have adopted is to turn the province into a home of mega events.
To this end, this year alone we hosted a number of big events which have attracted thousands of people to our province, resulting in the province raking in millions of rands in tourism revenue. One of these is the Top Gear Event, which sealed the growing reputation of our province as the home of big events. In the gamut of strategies to grow our tourism industry in the province we are the first province which has put together a tourism master plan which is aligned with the provincial growth and development strategy.
The plan provides for a scope to set targets that are measured to gauge tourism growth in all tourism related sectors. We want to ensure that by 2030 the tourism industry should be contributing R65.2 billion to the gross domestic product (GDP) and that 183 820 jobs should be created. We want to increase the number of domestic arrivals by 50% by 2030.
Currently, our province attracts 27% of all domestic trips. However, as the province we believe that we can still do more if we ratchet up our campaign to market this province. It is because of this reason that we are delighted to be associated with this festival because it afford us an opportunity to showcase our tourism offerings to all the people of this country.
Programme Director, in line with the re-alignment of the brand South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal has also adopted a radical drive to re-brand itself as the preferred tourism destination of choice. In this regard, we have adopted the new pay off line known as: Whatzffob.
This represents the distinctive features of the province of KwaZulu-Natal which are: Warmth, heritage, adventure, trade gateway, Zulu, fun, family orientated and beaches.
We are a province that is warm throughout year. In this province we only know of two seasons: which is summer and forever summer. KwaZulu-Natal is a province that is a melting pot of different cultures, a home of two world heritage sites, Isimangaliso Wetland Park and UKhahlamba Drakensberg Park.
We offer a variety of adventurous activities such as climbing, hiking and bungee jumping. Our province has also positioned itself as the trade gateway to the African continent owing to the fact that it is logistics hub of the Southern African region. But, more importantly we are a family orientated destination.
We offer everything for all members of the family. When one looks at the audience profile of SABC 1 and SABC in general we have no doubt, that working together, we can be able to continue to break new grounds in marketing the province of KwaZulu-Natal as the domestic destination of choice in the country.
The current global economic situation, which has been worsened by the Eurozone economic crisis, means that even though, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization more than a billion people are expected to travel for the first this year, however we need to intensify our marketing domestically because our traditional source markets are in financial doldrums.
It is for this reason that government at nationally has presented the domestic tourism strategy. One of the most important aspects of the strategy is that is seeks to entrench a culture of travelling within our communities. This, in our view, is critically because research has shown that as South Africans we don’t travel.
It is because of reason that as the province of KwaZulu-Natal we continue to come up with new strategies to attract tourists to our province. We are one of the few provinces which has developed a structure, the Provincial Tourism Committee which provides a platform for all stakeholders in the tourism industry, including government at provincial, district and municipal level, representatives from the hospitality industry and the private sector, to come together to deliberate on how to grow this critical industry in our province.
One of the most important issues we are currently discussing is to create a bid fund which will serve as a war chest to attract major events to the province. In conclusion, as the province of KwaZulu Natal we welcome this festival to our province as it cements our reputation that, indeed, we are the home of mega events. Fo sho we have no doubt that working together, we can do a lot to take our tourism industry to a new pedestal.
I thank you!
