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Date : 01/11/2005
Source: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
Title: van Schalkwyk: Launch of Global Business Unusual Tourism Campaign in Amsterdam


  Speech by Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, at the launch of the Global Business Unusual Tourism Campaign, Amsterdam, Netherlands

BRINGING SA SPIRIT TO GLOBAL BUSINESS TOURISM

Introduction

The celebrated English author, Rudyard Kipling, captured the best-known faces of our country when he penned his tribute: "To the home of the floods and thunder, To her pale dry healing blue, To the lift of the great Cape combers, And the smell of the baked Karoo." In the age of documentaries, travelogues, and global publicity campaigns there are few indeed who have not been exposed to the commanding heights of our majestic mountains, the vast and inspirational sweep of our sun-baked savannah, and our urban landscapes pulsing with the rhythm of African essence. These physical attractions are complemented by our less familiar, but even more powerful, South African heritage.

The southern tip of Africa has always been a meeting point. Nature herself brought together the oceans, the winds, and people to the place we call Mzansi. From the earliest hunter-gatherers, to the arrival of European explorers, our home has always been a crossroads. It has been the meeting place of East and West. It has brought together cultures and histories from across the world and forged a powerful mix of pride, tradition, innovation and expression. It has also been the birthplace of unique ideas and approaches, like the complex trading empire that existed more than 1000 years ago at Mapungubwe - linking South Africa, India, and China at a time when Europe was just entering the Middle Ages; like the world's first heart transplant; and the peaceful negotiated transition to our uniquely South African democracy.

It is this heritage of dialogue and unique approaches that lies at the heart of the campaign which we launch today. It is our ability to merge centuries of African wisdom with the demands of modern business. It is our capacity to bring African insight to the challenges of global commerce. It is this that sets us apart and makes business tourism in South Africa so exceptional. This is Business Unusual.

Business Tourism - The third pillar of SA Tourism Master Plan

In 2001, South Africa committed to improving our share of the leisure tourism market, the largest and thus far most profitable pillar of global tourism. The result was focused research which led to our Tourism Development Strategy, a vibrant new global brand, and almost seven million international visitors in 2004. The second pillar, which we launched last year, was the enhancement of our domestic tourism market and products, to access the almost 6.3 million South Africans with the means to travel domestically, but for whom tourism has remained a relatively unfamiliar leisure option. Today we complete the logical structure of tourism success, with the launch of this R20 million business tourism campaign, Business Unusual is the third and final pillar of our tourism master plan.

South Africa already accounts for more than 63% of the total conference activities in Africa, and has been consistently ranked in the top 30 global convention country ratings and in the top 10 global incentive travel destinations. It is estimated that business tourism already accounts for more than R21 billion annually in revenue, sustaining more than 260 000 jobs. In just ten years South Africa has improved from 63rd place to become the 27th most popular conferencing destination in the world. We aim, by 2010, to break into the Top Ten global conferencing destinations, and Business Unusual will be the vehicle through which this goal will be achieved.

The fact that the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) last year chose South Africa, for the first time in the 20 years of our membership, as the venue for its annual Congress, was the clearest indication yet that our country has become a meeting place of note, and a business tourism destination of distinction. SA Ideas Adding Value to Business

With a return on investment of up to 35:1 and global volume of more than 10 000 associations, more than half of whom are global travellers, the economic importance of business tourism to South Africa is evident. The average international meeting in South Africa generates about R6,8 million in revenue, with the average delegate spending about R10 500. What is equally true however, is the value which South Africa can add to the business bottom line.

In December 1991, after decades of conflict, the African National Congress and the National Party joined 17 other parties to form the Convention for a Democratic South Africa - CODESA. This was not only a new beginning for South Africans, it was also the birth of the concept of sufficient consensus, an idea which South Africa proved to the world could resolve conflict without confrontation. The idea of Imbizo is another uniquely Southern African contribution to modern business. Historically it was a tribal council called for leaders to listen to concerns and to discuss important matters with communities. Today it provides a uniquely South African business model for town hall-style meetings for consultation and feedback.

In 2002 the Heads of State of more than 180 nations met in Johannesburg for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), the largest-ever United Nations (UN) event of its kind. The WSSD was planned and executed as a global Indaba - the historical Southern African meeting for leaders and councils to discuss matters of strategic importance. Combined with philosophical approaches like Ubuntu, which stresses the importance of others as key to defining one's own existence, South Africa has fused African wisdom with Western business, to offer Business Unusual to the world.

Conclusion

We are very pleased to be holding the worldwide launch of Business Unusual here in the Netherlands - one of our key markets and also a key historical contributor to the culture and heritage of our country. The campaign will now be rolled out to other European centres - with the London launch on Thursday, and launches in the Americas and in the East next year.

Apart from the WSSD, South Africa has established a well-deserved reputation for hosting world-class events: from the Rugby and Cricket World Cups and the African Cup of Nations Soccer Tournament, to the World Parks Congress and the World Summit against Racism. With increasing levels of private and public investment in over 1700 venues, ranging from intimate bush camps to world-class convention centres, our business tourism infrastructure is developing at a pace to match the rapid growth we are experiencing. Airports, road and rail links, telecommunications, cutting-edge banking facilities, grading systems for everything from hotels to restaurants and conference facilities, these are just the start. With our preparations for hosting the 2010 Soccer World Cup there has never been a better time to take advantage of what South Africa offers the world.

This is not just business excellence - it is Business Unusual.

Enquiries:
Riaan Aucamp
Cell: 083 778 9923
Issued by: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
1 November 2005
   

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