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Date : 26/05/2004
Source: Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
Title: M van Schalkwyk: Fedhasa meeting


SPEECH BY MARTHINUS VAN SCHALKWYK, MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND TOURISM, AT A MEETING OF FEDHASA CAPE, Cape Town, 26 May 2004

The Way Forward for Tourism in South Africa

Introduction

Your enterprises - hotels, restaurants, bed and breakfast's, lodges, self-catering resorts, and home-hosting establishments - are both the backbone and the front-line of our tourism industry in South Africa.

Apart from blurred impressions of airports, taxi drivers, and incredible scenery, there is no aspect of tourism more important or more lasting to visitors than the reception they receive at their home-away-from-home.

Far more than just a place to sleep, to dress, and to eat, you offer our guests a refuge, a source of advice and assistance, and the reassurance of Africa's warmest welcome.

It is my great pleasure to join you here today, both to express my appreciation for the sterling work that Fedhasa does - nationally and regionally - and also to share with you a few thoughts about the future of tourism in South and Southern Africa.

A few days after taking office I had the honour of opening Indaba 2004 in Durban. Many of you were there, and I know you will agree with me when I say that it was not only the largest, but also the most successful Indaba yet. It was both about the future of our industry and the road map that we must follow to capitalise on the remaining untapped potential of tourism in South Africa.

2010 Soccer World Cup

We stand at one of the most exciting thresholds in the history of the hospitality industry. The announcement of our successful bid to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup has catapulted our nation to the very centre of the world stage, and must rank as one of the single most important opportunities ever for our people.

There are a number of very promising projections about the likely impact of the World Cup on our economy - those contained in the bid predict more than 190 000 overseas spectators, 45 000 fans from other African nations, and direct expenditure of almost R10 billion. It is, however, apparent that we have an urgent need for more detailed information.

We must have insight into the specific tourism infrastructure that is still lacking. We must understand and appreciate the new markets that have now opened to us - in the Spanish, Japanese, and Portuguese-speaking world for example. We must address issues of tourism safety, transport, visa and other services, and we must do so in the most professional and coordinated effort possible. We must engage with the tourism authorities and organisers of the Japanese World Cup and the current event in Germany - to learn from their experiences and to apply international best-practice.

To make all of this a reality, I am pleased to announce today that I have requested our Director General, Dr Olver, to convene a task team and to begin discussions on the creation of a comprehensive Tourism Development Plan for the World Cup. As this will be a truly African event we will be working closely with bodies like the Regional Tourism Organisation for Southern Africa, the African Travel Association, and the Commission for Africa of the World Tourism Organisation. We will also need your help - as the voice of the hospitality sector - in identifying and addressing the challenges of 2010.

International Tourism Branding & Domestic Tourism Focus

As important and exciting as the World Cup is for tourism in South Africa, we must also remain focused on sustaining the normal growth that we have experienced. Since the implementation of our International Tourism Growth Strategy we have experienced significant growth acceleration. Last year our overseas arrivals grew by 4,2% over the already impressive growth of 2002, whilst total global tourism fell by 1,2% over the same period. Spending increased, in spite of the strength of the Rand, by 10,5% to R53, 9 billion. In many ways, 2003 was a test of the staying power of tourism in South Africa - one that we passed with flying colours.

Met die bekendstelling van ons nuwe toerisme identiteit en bemarkingsveldtog, is ons goed geposisioneer om verder te verbeter op hierdie getalle. Fedhasa en sy lede is sleutelrolspelers in hierdie uitrolplan, en diegene wat nie ons indentiteits-tentoonstelling (Brand Village) by Indaba besoek het nie, wil ek graag aanmoedig om kontak te maak met SA Toerisme. Ons moet die vooruitsigte van hierdie indentiteit in lyn bring met lewering in julle bedryf.

I will, early next month, be launching our new Domestic Tourism Growth Campaign here in the Cape, and I trust that you will accept my invitation to be part of that event. It is domestic tourism that is the bread and butter of our industry, contributing R47 billion last year compared to the R53, 9 billion we received from international tourism.

This strategy will again require your assistance and cooperation to succeed. We need the right products and services, in the right quantities, at the right time of year, correctly packaged and in the right locations to grow our local markets.

Competitiveness Study - Preliminary Results

Our Department, together with the DTI and SA Tourism is currently completing a Tourism Competitiveness Study aimed at identifying the key levers in our industry that will enhance our competitiveness, and enable us to benchmark tourism in South Africa against similar products offered in other countries. With the first phase of this study due to be completed by the end of June, we are already receiving the first very preliminary results. Although the end product will be made available to all our tourism partners, I can share with you today a few of the indications that are emerging and that will be of direct interest to Fedhasa:

* The capacity utilisation of our 5 star hotels has shown real improvement over the last five years;
* Our average rates for hotel rooms compare very favourably on a global scale - largely confirming the Deloitte and Touche study of 2003 which shows that we remain 30-40% more affordable than the average - but there are also signs that certain parts of the industry have not been able to adjust with sufficient flexibility to shifts in the value of the Rand;
* Tourists from SADC nations purchased about 6 million hotel nights of accommodation last year - or about 43% of our international total;
* There has been a rapid expansion in alternative accommodation, such as B&B's over the past five years; and
* Several product gaps have been clearly identified including cultural products like attractive museums and authentic African cuisine.

Transformation

Another major challenge, with which we are faced as an industry, is that of transformation. We must acknowledge that the pace has been slow, and that there is a need for greater commitment from the side of some within the industry.

To this end, our Department is working with the Tourism Business Council of South Africa to develop a tourism transformation scorecard, based on the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act, which will provide targets and timeframes for the transformation of the industry. We are in the process of together appointing a high-level steering committee that will manage and oversee the final development of the scorecard, which we expect to be completed by the end of this year.

Lomzantsi Afrika likhaya lomntu wonke. Abantsundu, abamhlophe, abebala, namaNdiya, amadoda, nabafazi. Sesibonisile ke ukuba sakhela kwisiseko sango-1994.

(South Africa is a home for all the people - black, white, coloured and Indian, men and women. We have shown already that we are building on the foundation laid in 1994.)

Conclusion

We have spoken this afternoon very briefly about a few of the most important milestones that will mark the route to our shared success in future tourism. Naturally there is a wide range of issues that remain for us to discuss, but this has been an important start.

In so many respects the South African hospitality industry offers a snap-shot of South Africa as a whole - with increasing numbers of enterprises offering a welcome that treats all visitors as important and all people as equal. It is this approach that we must deepen and intensify together over the next five years. I look forward to getting to know your members, hearing your ideas and concerns, and working with you in partnership.

September is Tourism Month, in which we will deepen and extend our domestic tourism drive. I would like to call on Fedhasa to lend its full support and backing to these activities. Let us make the message of the Welcome Campaign - Tourism is Everybody's Business - widely known, and even more widely supported.

Enquiries:
Riaan Aucamp
Cell: 083 778 9923
Issued by: Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
26 May 2004

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