ANNUAL MEETING OF SADC MINISTERS OF TOURISM HELD IN JOHANNESBURG

26 May 2000

The Annual Meeting of SADC Ministers of Tourism took place in Johannesburg, South Africa on 26 May 2000. It was preceded by the Meetings of Senior Officials and of the Board of Directors of the Regional Tourism Organisation of Southern Africa (RETOSA) held from 22 to 24 May 2000.

The meeting was attended by Ministers and Deputy Ministers from Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Tanzania was represented by its High Commissioner in South Africa. The Executive Director of Retosa and the Senior Economist of the SADC Secretariat were also present.

In his opening address, Honourable Jacques Chasteau de Balyon, Minister of Tourism and Leisure of Mauritius and Chairman of the Committee of SADC Tourism Ministers, reviewed the performance of the tourism sector in the SADC region and progress in the implementation of projects of the SADC Tourism Sector Coordinating Unit and of the activities undertaken by the RETOSA for the period 1999/2000. He noted that although the tourism sector had been performing well, there was room for improvement. He noted that there was a need to bring greater coherence in the overall approach to the development of the tourism sector at the SADC level by taking concrete actions on the supply side of the sector and in the implementation of conducive policy measures to meet the expected growth in demand. He underlined the need to stimulate investments by local and foreign investors to expand the capacity of the sector and provide quality facilities and services.

The meeting was officially opened by the Honourable Valli Moosa, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, South Africa. He emphasized the need to further improve the image of the SADC region and to work vehemently to counter-act misperceptions through a well developed and managed communications strategy. There is also a need to improve the service delivery of the tourism sector and to increase the capacity and effectiveness of the RETOSA in promoting the region while improving its interaction with national tourism authorities to ensure greater co-operation, resource and information sharing.

The Ministers discussed a number of issues. The conclusions reached on the main issues are summarised below:

  1. Tourism Protocol: Member states were urged to speed up the process of ratification of the protocol in order to bring it into force.
  2. UNIVISA: Ministers took note of the recommendations of the workshop on Univisa held in Swaziland from 7-9 February 2000 and agreed on the following:

  1. member countries would initiate and complete the process by 31st December 2000 for exempting tourists from visa requirements from the following countries: the UK, USA, BENELUX Countries, Australia, Germany, France, Portugal, Spain and Japan; and
  2. the setting up of a Monitoring and Implementation Committee (MIC) comprising representatives from Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Mauritius, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, SADC Secretariat and TCU.

  1. Safety and Security of Tourists: Ministers recommended that member states should apply the provisions of the Global code of Ethics for Tourism of the World Tourism Organisation to ensure the protection of tourists and visitors and their belongings.
  2. HIV/AIDS: Ministers recommended that the problem of HIV/AIDS in the tourism sector be addressed in collaboration with the SADC health sector.
  3. EXPO 2000: Ministers noted that most member states were going to participate at both at the SADC Joint Presentation and at the national level in the EXPO 2000 to be held in Hannover from 1st June to 30 October 2000.
  4. Report on RETOSA activities: Ministers noted the promotional activities that RETOSA had undertaken during the period 1999/2000. The following activities were highlighted:

  1. production of the promotional materials like the Regional Directory 2000, a regional map and a set of post cards and posters;
  2. participation at several regional and international fairs with its own stand; and
  3. hosting of a number of travel and consumer journalists in the region who have been able to write positively about our tourist products in the source markets.

Okavango SDIs : Ministers took cognisance of the Okavango project which was presented by the promoter. This project covers five countries namely Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Ministers decided that this presentation should be replicated to the Governments of the countries concerned. The Ministers of Wildlife and Tourism of these countries should meet for further discussions on the project.

SADC Secretariat/Tourism Sector Coordination Unit
Johannesburg
South Africa