2006
27 September 2006
"On World Tourism Day 2006, countries across the globe are reflecting on the
theme 'Tourism Enriches'," said Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of
Environmental Affairs and Tourism, in Mpumalanga on Wednesday.
The Minister praised the achievements of the local industry as he announced
the results of the latest tourism review. "Once again South Africa has emerged
as a star performer in the world tourism arena. Even though the Soccer World
Cup is four years away, we are already seeing benefits from our elevated
international profile. This is reflected in our first quarter tourism
performance for 2006."
"With just over 2,7 million arrivals from January to April, this is the
first time we have broken through the 2,5 million mark in the first four months
of the year. This figure compares very favourably with our first quarter
arrivals of 1998, which stood at just over 1,8 million. We have seen a 16%
increase in arrivals across all territories compared to the same period last
year, which translates into almost 377 000 more visitors."
Shedding more light on these impressive results, the Minister stated, "The
largest component of this growth comes from Africa and the Middle East region,
which was 21,9% higher confirming the importance of this sector to our
continued success. The region showing the second largest growth at 7,1%, was
Asia and Australasia. The United Kingdom (UK), Germany and the United States of
America (USA) remain our most important long-haul markets.
Thus far this year, we have seen continued growth in all months from the USA
and a 3,6% increase from Europe as a whole. In addition to this positive news,
we are sure to experience a broadening of our international tourism base as a
result of our raised soccer profile. Though we have had strong performance
since 2004, we experienced a dramatic increase of 32% in the number of tourists
from Brazil in the first quarter of 2006."
The Minister also commented on the global competitiveness of South African
tourism. "The data reveals that our international competitiveness compares
favourably with other countries. While Australia is experiencing a downward
trend in arrivals, with 1,9 million visitors in the first four months of this
year, South Africa had 2,7 million visitors over the same period and is
experiencing an upward trend."
In order to sustain this growth and contribute to the goals of the
Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa, the Minister emphasised
the importance of continuous investment in skills. "A comprehensive tourism
skills audit is underway to this end. An important milestone of this process is
a national Skills Conference that will take place on 19 and 20 October 2006.
This will help us to ensure that the industry does not run into capacity
constraints, by improving the alignment between the skills generated by
tertiary institutions and those most needed by industry."
Minister Van Schalkwyk announced the details of upcoming events in the next
month, which will focus on 2010 readiness. "In terms of our preparations for
2010, I will be hosting the national 2010 Federation of International Football
Association (FIFA) World Cup Tournament accommodation workshop on 12 October,
during which a strategy will be shaped that will shape South Africa's approach
to meeting the accommodation requirements for the World Cup."
"A national workshop on economic opportunities of the 2010 FIFA World Cup is
planned for 24 October 2006. Various departments, including the Department of
Environmental Affairs and Tourism, will lead discussion on their 2010
programmes, and highlight what benefits are available particularly for South
Africans. Government has agreed with FIFA's Local Organising Committee that 30%
of its budget of over $400 million must be spent on procuring goods and
services from small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMMEs)."
The Minister recognised and congratulated the finalists of the 2006 Emerging
Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year Awards (ETEYA), who hailed from all nine
provinces, and were presented with their award certificates and prizes at the
celebrations on Wednesday morning.
Predicting that 2006 would be another bumper year for tourism, the Minister
noted, "Our first quarter figures indicate that we are well on target to
surpass last year's record tourism arrival figure of 7,3 million."
Enquiries:
Riaan Aucamp
Cell: 083 778 9923
Monde Mateza
Cell: 084 607 5985
Issued by: Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
27 September 2006
