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Immediate South African Tourism, the government's strategic tourism marketing body, has been without a permanent CEO since March this year following Moeketsi Mosola's resignation from the organisation. It is unacceptable that in the year preceding South Africa's biggest tourism marketing opportunity - the 2010 FIFA World Cup - there has been no permanent strategist directing how to market the nation to the world before this major event. A person of such stature and experience should have been in place from April 1 to counter the challenges of marketing South Africa in a global economic crisis. I understand that interviews for the post started today (September 2), five months after Mr Mosola cleared his desk. Assuming the new incumbent takes office on October 1, SA Tourism will have been without strategic management for the six most crucial months since democratic governance attracted the world's tourists to our shores. Efforts to find a new CEO should have proceeded with vigour as soon as the previous incumbent resigned to make sure that a new strategic head was in place to ensure continuity and drive the 2010 marketing strategy. The Department of Tourism recently presented its strategic objectives on 2010 FIFA World Cup Readiness to the parliamentary portfolio committee. While it is a competent programme, with some entertaining ideas, there are some significant omissions that indicate that the drafters may have some delusions about its football-fan target market and their needs. An experienced professional would have added more strategic insight. Minister Van Schalkwyk needs to explain whether South Africa's 2010 strategic marketing vision took a backseat because his attention was focused on the election campaign. Did party political considerations take precedence over the concerns of South Africa's tourism industry during an economic crisis? The minister cannot duck behind the excuse of the splitting of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism into separate entities for the lack of action in hastening the appointment of a new CEO. He was in charge of the department when Mr Mosola resigned and was duty-bound to fast-track his replacement irrespective of election fever and pending re-structuring of the department.