Programme Directors, Mr Geoffrey Lipman Africa Investor (AI) Advisory Board Member and former undersecretary General, United Nations World Tourism Organisation Mrs Thoko Mashiane, Deputy Chairperson, Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency (MEGA) board of Directors.
Recognition of key VIP Guests
Let me give special recognition to the following Tourism Ministers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) including Deputy Minister from South Africa Honouable Ms Tokozile Xasa,
Honourable Netumbo Nandi-Ndiatwah, Minister of Environment and Tourism, Republic of Namibia,
Honourable Pedro Mutindi, Minister of Hotels and Tourism, Republic of Angola,
Honourable Serapio Rukundo, Minister of Tourism, Trade and Industry, Republic of Uganda,
Honourable Walter Mzembi, Minister of Tourism and Hospitality, Republic of Zimbabwe,
Honourable Najib Balala, Minister of Tourism, Republic of Kenya.
We have also in our midst very important potential investors who are looking forward to investing in our Tourism Economy. I have been advised that about 80 of them have attended this summit. I would however also like to pay special tribute to the following key Investor delegates, Hayan Merchant, Board Member, Dubai 9 Group and Group Chief Executive Officer, Ruwaad and Malaika,
Peter de Jong, Former President of PATA – Africa, Asia and Tony Williams, Ex Chief Executive Officer, Emirates Hotels.
Introduction
It gives me great pleasure, honour and privilege to welcome all 300 delegates to the 2011 Tourism and Infrastructure Investment Summit and Awards. This is the first summit to be hosted by the province and South Africa since the dawn of Democracy post 1994.
Welcome to Mpumalanga the Pioneering Spirit, the Province where the sun rises, the tourism heartbeat of Africa and the world, a tourism destination of choice.
Talking about the sun, the central component of our galaxy and sustainable environment, I must remind you of the story by Bishop Desmond Tutu at the height of the apartheid administration in South Africa during a trip to Los Angeles.
The story is about an Ambassador of the country I chose not to name in the United States, when the White House was celebrating their second success after sending a man to the moon, the then Secretary of State of Foreign Affairs standing next to this Ambassador boasted that the Americans have done it again by sending a man to the moon, to the level that his counterpart got agitated.
The Ambassador responded with his deep native accent “You think you are the only smart nation, we also in our country are about to send a man to the sun.”
To the sun? responded the US Secretary of Foreign Affairs, are you crazy? You will be burnt to a crisp thousands of kilometers before you even reach the sun.
No, no, said the Ambassador (in his deep native accent) “you think we are so stupid, we will send the man at night.” The poor Ambassador, he thought the sun ceases to shine at night. (That was just a short commercial.)
This Summit is hosted at the Kruger National Park, the largest conservation theatre in Africa. To Africa-Investor, the Mpumalanga Provincial Government and its 3.8 million citizens, look forward to practical initiative and investment and finance partnerships that are capable of increasing our provincial Tourism’s Economic significance and recognition as a driver for integration and development.
Over the next two days, MEGA and MTPA will showcase Tourism and Infrastructure Investment projects with significance investment opportunities. These projects seek to create an more jobs in the next 10 years as part of our contribution to the 2020 national.
Mpumalanga is undoubtedly a world class tourism destination endowed with a myriad of global attractions and experiences. The main offerings are wildlife, scenic beauty, adventure, cultural and heritage.
The province’s tourism jewels included amongst others, the Kruger National Park which offers two million hectares of flora and fauna, the Blyde River Canyon, which is the third largest in the world and the only evergreen, the Makhonjwa Mountain range in Barberton with rock formations dating back 3.5 billion years, the iconic mining village of Pilgrim’s rest and the majestic waterfalls, cultural and heritage landscape.
Furthermore, Mpumalanga boasts a spectacular array of archeological richness, enchanting landscapes and historical battle sites that smoothly blend to make this Region an eternal wonder.
This very park which is hosting this summit stretches along the Mozambican border and enjoys the ceaseless flow of Limpopo, Luvuvhu, Shingwedzi, Letaba, Olifants, Timbavati, Sabie and the crocodile rivers.
The Makhonjwa mountain range in Barberton is currently vying for world heritage status; scientists have recorded fossils in this area that record the earliest forms of life on the planet from as far back as 3.5 billion years and also that it be kept in mind that a first stock exchange in country was hosted by Barberton.
The three rondavels (also called the three sisters) provide an impressive view of three huge rock spirals rising out of the far wall of the canyon. Their tops have a hut like rounded roof. Where the Blyde River (river of joy) and Treur River (river of sorrow) meet, water erosion has formed one of the most remarkable geological phenomena in the country, known as Bourke’s luck potholes.
The Mpumalanga Tourism Growth Strategy
Tourism is one of the leading economic sectors in Mpumalanga, one of South Africa’s top five regional contributors to gross domestic product (GDP), and a critical player in efforts to create jobs and poverty alleviation.
It is identified as a job driver in government’s latest job creation blue print, the New Growth Path, as I said tourism is to create as many jobs as possible in the next ten years, through an emphasis on tourism infrastructure and focused strategy.
The Mpumalanga Tourism Growth Strategy seeks to transform the provincial tourism economy from a primary factor driven approach that is characterized by limited investment, insufficient product portfolio network, inadequate knowledge and research capacity and limited tourism airlift capacity.
The new approach’s primary goal is to mobilise investment in infrastructure and to expand the current product portfolio across the province.
At the centre of this new approach is the need to transform the tourism sector of this province in order to obtain sustainable benefits and create decent employment for the people of Mpumalanga.
It is our considered view that the tourism industry drives development too, by pulling in other sectors such as construction, infrastructure, arts and crafts, agriculture, services, transportation and manufacturing, in this context it is also a major source of foreign currency revenue.
No doubt, to us tourism is placed higher on the Government agenda in a number of ways, I am sure both MEGA and MTPA will be able to share with you our strategic focus areas for investment and priority projects.
One important characteristic of the tourism industry which should underpin Africa’s tourism strategy is that it is labour intensive.
A given level of revenue or capital investment creates many more jobs in tourism than the same level of revenue or investment would in many other sectors.
Our Provincial Tourism Growth Strategy is also acknowledging that tourism and the environment are closely connected. Tourists are becoming more and more demanding of the environmental quality of destinations and this has led to a rethinking of tourism development, with a greater focus being put on sustainable concepts such as ecotourism.
Conserving and improving the environment, while important for its own sake, can also be seen as a way of creating value, and many tourist destinations now use sustainability as their main selling point.
Transformation
The need to transform the sector cannot be over-emphasised. For many reasons the benefits of tourism often do not trickle down to low-income groups, tourism can be developed and its products can be packaged in such a way as to involve the poor as well. Pro-poor tourism concept aims to increase the participation of and the flow of income to poor people.
The institutional design of tourism planning should facilitate the participation of diverse groups and interests within the SADC community to start with._
Vision and performance perspective
In recent years, the tourism sector has emerged as a primary driver of economies of many countries, especially in developing countries. The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) indicates that 935 million tourists travelled across international boundaries in 2010.
In its tourism growth forecast, Tourism 2020 Vision, the UNWTO also predicts that the tourism sector will grow by an average of 4.1% per year for the next two decades. Projections for the year 2020 indicate that tourist arrivals will grow to 1.8 billion.
The Minister of Tourism, Mr Marthinus Van Schalkwy stated in the opening remarks of the Travel corporation 2010 conference, open quote “The rise of the BRIC countries, coupled with their faster rebound from the 2008/09 financial crisis when compared to the advanced economies, have major implications for future travel and tourism patterns. And to stay ahead of the game into the next decade, we must seize these opportunities.
The growing middle-income countries will become the leading outbound markets of the future.” close quote
South Africa attracted 9.9 million international tourists in 2009. In terms of National Tourism Growth Strategy, South Africa will attract 12 million international tourists by 2014. 30 million domestic trips were generated in South Africa in 2009.
Mpumalanga attracted 1.4 million international tourists in 2009 and generated 800 000 domestic trips in 2009. Our 2016 vision is to attract 2.8 million international tourists and generate eight million domestic trips.
Our major sectors in the provincial economy are manufacturing, agriculture, mining, tourism, forestry and energy. They are represented by major commercial enterprises and well supported by transport and logistics infrastructure as well as wide network of established and emerging markets. The industry has to change the way it does business in a carbon-constrained world.
I believe that, in far less than a decade, a low-carbon value chain for the tourism sector will be an increasingly important driver of competitiveness.
In the tourism sector, in addition to the Kruger National Park, there are 70 other game reserves and lodges.
These game parks and reserves offer opportunities for development of tourist infrastructure such as hotel rooms, conference facilities and theme parks.
And more importantly there are some conservation protected areas such the famous Kruger National Park (KNP) which can be joined to form a transfrontier conservation area (TFCA) straddling two or more international borders where the natural and cultural resources can be collaboratively managed by the Governments and authorities involved as a source of economic integration in the SADC Region.
I have been told that Songimvelo Game Reserve in Mpumalanga and Malotja Nature Reserve in Swaziland will be joined to form a transfrontier conservation area (TFCA) that will then be incorporated in the Lebombo frontier conservation and resource area, which also includes other parks in these countries and in Mozambique.
Parts of Kruger, Limpopo and Gonarenzhou National Parks are adjacent and will eventually form one super park allowing animals to roam freely and visitors to explore the full extent of the TFCA without the hassles of moving across international boundaries.
That is use one of the entrances or gates and you will be able to touch base with three countries, namely South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
South Africa is involved in a total of seven TFCA with other countries. Southern African governments are keen to realize investment in these areas. Infrastructure where needed to promote tourism, as a well as on property development in and around the TFCA’s. Work still needs to be done to bring the full TFCA vision into fruition.
Before I conclude, I would like to congratulate all the winners of the very prestigious African Investor 2011 Tourism Investment Awards aimed at promoting the African Tourism Industry as a vehicle to drive sustainable economic growth and competitive investment returns.
Conclusion
Let me in conclusion acknowledge the strong presence of the international and local media houses. Without their support and partnership, Mpumalanga, South Africa and the continent will be starved of the greatest news ever about our march towards economic emancipation of our people.
I would also fail in my duty by not recognizing the local and national delegates to this summit. My message to them is “Engage and partner with the International Investors to generate investment within our tourism economy”
To our local partners, We need to challenge ourselves continuously to understand our consumers better; to position ourselves in emerging markets before the space becomes overcrowded; to master the new technologies that will give us the competitive edge; to innovate on the supply side; and to do all of these in a more environmentally sustainable way.
Once again, Welcome to Mpumalanga, the Province where the sun rises, the tourism heartbeat of Africa and the world, a tourism destination of choice. You our international and national partners, are all highly valued. We appreciate your commitment to building Africa through tourism and I wish you highly successful deliberations over the next two days.
I thank you.
Source: Mpumalnaga Provincial Government
