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Date : 15/10/2003
Source: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
Title: Mabudafhasi: Western Cape Tourism Safety and Security Conference


ADDRESS BY HON REJOICE MABUDAFHASI, MP, DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND TOURISM, AT THE WESTERN CAPE PROVINCIAL SAFETY AND SECURITY TOURISM CONFERENCE, 15 October 2003

Programme Director
Honourable Premier of the Western Cape, Mr Marthinus Van Schalkwyk
Honourable MEC for Environment, Tourism and Gambling, Mrs Joyce Witbooi
Councillors
Prominent business leader, Comrade Chris Nissen
Distinguished guests
Members of the Media
Organisers of this event
Ladies and Gentlemen

It is an honour for me to address you on this occasion and to reflect on the achievements of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism in as far as safety and security is concerned for tourists.

I will of course not only reflect on our achievements, but also on some of the challenges that we face and continue to face.

Let me begin by indicating that as a result of tourism's multi-disciplinary nature and dependency on a range of variables, the tourism industry will always remain vulnerable to external shocks, including amongst safety and security of tourists. The absence of detailed statistics relating to crime on tourists in particular hampers efforts to get a true picture of the situation as the current crime administration system in use by the South African Police Service does not provide for a distinction between crime against tourists and crime against the general public. We are however aware that we have hosted a number of large events such as the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the International Cricket World Cup, very successfully, without a single incident of crime against any tourist.

The attacks on tourists (in Mpumalanga) in 2002 have however raised the profile of tourist safety and security. The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism has established a National Tourism Safety Network, which is a multi-stakeholder structure comprising provincial representatives, the South African Police Services, metro police, organised local government, community policing structures, South African Tourism and other key stakeholders.

The forum has so far developed a Tourism Safety Communication Strategy that is presently being implemented by provinces. It has also redrafted the national tourism safety tips for visitors and established agreement in the industry to only distribute the new documents to tourists.

The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, together with South African Tourism held a Tourism Safety Workshop with the provinces in April this year in order to address key concerns around the issue of tourist safety and security. The focus thus far has been on generating greater awareness, working with the provinces to develop tourism safety strategies, linking the various role-players in the provinces and crisis management post incidents.

SA Tourism also handles crisis communications and crisis management when incidents against tourists do take place. At a provincial level, Mpumalanga, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal have all implemented successful tourist safety strategies. I am informed that the outcome of this conference should enable this province to put together an internationally accepted tourism safety management plan.

This I am convinced will lend itself to sustainable tourism growth and could in essence serve as a catalyst for further trade and investment.

When comparing recent tourism statistics to those of our main competitors such as Australia, it is obvious that South Africa is still regarded as one of the safer destinations. Although we have not been immune to the impact of events such as 9/11, the war in Iraq, bombings in Bali, the impact of SARS, etc. South Africa recovered fairly quickly and experienced a major tourism boom in 2002. Increased arrivals from African and overseas countries pushed arrival figures to record breaking levels for every month of the 2002 calendar year, with total arrivals closing the year 11% up from 2001. All growth was in contradiction to the World Travel and Tourism Council's (WTTC) predictions that the impact of 9/11 would be reflected in both 2001 and 2002 figures.

The cumulative 6-month position for 2003 indicates that foreign tourism has grown by 4.8% or 144 151 tourists compared to the same period in 2002. Both overseas and African arrivals showed positive increases, with overseas arrivals increasing by 9.6% (or 76 373 tourists) and African arrivals increasing by 3% (or 64 133 tourists).

There is no doubt that there has been a certain degree of cancellation and reduced bookings in terms of travel to many destinations. While there may still be a certain degree of nervousness associated with travelling, tourism is an incredibly resilient industry and is able to recover fairly quickly.

In order to contextualise provincial participation in the bigger national picture of safety and security, it is important to note that provincial events, such as the Western Cape bombings, impacted widely and could be felt across the country.

Safety and security should therefore not be looked at in isolation but in relation to borders of areas, provinces and overall nationally and internationally. Events in our border countries, such as Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique and Zimbabwe affect perceptions of safety and security in South Africa. Overall the perception of the African continent is as important.

The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism circulated the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism to all our national and provincial government partners and businesses through the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA), seeking their support for the code and contributions to add value to the relevant decisions in the "Action Plan" adopted by the World Summit on Sustainable Development. After an interdisciplinary and lengthy consultation process, Cabinet endorsed the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism on 9 October 2002. The Global Code of Ethics for Tourism sets a frame of reference for the responsible and sustainable development of world tourism. This code is needed to help minimize the negative impacts of tourism on the environment and on cultural heritage, whilst maximizing the benefits for residents of tourism destinations.

The principles and implementation of this code will have to be entrenched from national to provincial to local levels in all tourism-related programmes. It is the considered view that the principles engendered in the code are a living guide for tourism policy development in our thriving economy. This vision for sustainable and responsible tourism development is also enshrined in the Tourism White Paper.

In line with sustainable development, it is important to note that Tourism can also become a danger to the safety and security of people's culture and way of life.

Tourism can create enclaves that invite rich tourists to countries that can destabilise and create islands on continents. Over dependence on foreign income and visitors can spread ideas to local communities and it can create backlashes from people of local culture, such as the case in Bali, Indonesia.

It is also important to note, that tourism and faster global travelling not only grows countries positively, part of opening up borders creates increased illegal immigration, increase movement of international crime syndicates and prostitution rings, smuggling of people and products. As part of 9/11 more extensive security issues also arose such as closure of airplane cockpits, banning of sharp items, booking in earlier, more searches and forgery of passports.

The main focus of government structures in South Africa should be on the creation of safe environments, the creation of jobs and the empowerment of all our people as envisaged in the guidelines for sustainable development published by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.

It is evident that tourism has enormous potential as a catalyst for future economic and social development. Sustainably developed tourism offers governments the opportunity to:
* Drive the economic growth and boost job creation throughout the economy;
* Increase export earnings and attract inward investment;
* Alleviate poverty and stimulate rapid economic development in regional, rural and peripheral areas
* Create faster economic growth, with a more intensive flow through effect to other industries, than either primary or manufacturing sectors;
* Work with private sector in collaborative ventures with a focus on sustainable development, open markets and human resource development;
* Draw on abundant African natural and cultural resources in partnership with local communities and other stakeholders and improve the quality of life for all residents.

The impact of a prosperous tourism industry will be enhanced if governments:
* Forge cooperation among them to share experiences and to learn. They must also work with credible international agencies to create a climate which attracts investments, streamline regulation and provide the infrastructure that supports the growing tourism industry;
* Encourage investments incentives and micro loans in order to promote the development of small enterprises- a key factor for successful development of African tourism;
* Provide people with the capacity to be actively involved in sustainable tourism projects at the community level;
* Ensure that the underlying policy framework, including fundamentals such as taxation and planning systems are conducive to sustainable growth;
* Lead the development and promotion of tourism, while allowing the private sector to drive the implementation of the growing tourism industry;
* Encourage the investment in education, training and environmental good practices with the aim of developing competitive products and maintaining high international service standards;
* Treat consumer safety and security issues as the highest priority with national policy and aggressive implementation as you are attempting here over the next two days.

The future of the tourism industry in South Africa could take very different forms, depending on several key factors including government policies, the rise or fall of conflicts on the continent, and the overall effectiveness of the industry's product development and marketing efforts. I believe this conference will focus on how safety and security lends itself to sustainable tourism growth and how it serves as a catalyst for trade and investment. It serves as a demonstration that tourism role players, the SAPS and community safety authorities are taking pro-active steps to manage public and specifically media perceptions and generalisations about South Africa as an internal and international tourism destination.

I wish you a fruitful and successful conference and trust that the outcome of your deliberations will translate into clear action plans with achievable objectives.

I thank you and look forward to receiving the report of this conference.

Source: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (http://www.environment.gov.za)

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