Soweto, 8 December 1999
Welcome
We are launching the Welcome campaign in Soweto today because it is symbolic of our tourism industry: a giant waiting to be developed to its full potential.
Without much fanfare and investment, Soweto has fast become one of the tourist icons of our country. From one operator working out of the Carlton centre a few years ago, Soweto now ranks 16th as a tourist attraction in our country and more than 1,600 tourists visit it every day.
What ever we might think about it … tourists want to visit Soweto because it is a place of deep significance in the history of our country … they want to come here to understand the miracle of our rainbow nation.
Because Government is mindful both of the significance of Soweto and the tremendous tourism potential it has my Department, in consultation with the Gauteng government and the Johannesburg Metro, have raised R16million to redevelop the Soweto Heritage Trail.
This trail is not just for foreigners but part of process of us coming to terms with our history.
Today I wanted to come to Soweto to launch our "Welcome" campaign because this is the foundation on we must develop into a tourist nation.
Today we are launching the "Welcome" campaign to raise awareness in our country and people on the importance of tourism to our economy.
There are hard economic reasons why government has made tourism a national priority: tourism is fast overtaking mining as the second biggest contributor to GDP, it can create and sustain jobs faster than any other sector in our economy. It can be the vehicle for creating a better life for all.
But if we want tourism to play this powerhouse role, we as a nation have to get behind it. That is why government, in partnership with the private sector, are rolling out programmes to build this country into one of the fastest growing tourism destinations in the world.
We have huge competitive advantages, modern infrastructure and natural resources, but more than anything we have the people of South Africa: a nation in the making.
But for this nation to be a tourist nation we are going to have to become more attuned with the needs of tourism because this is a harshly competitive industry worldwide that runs on service. For us to become global players, we must deliver the service and the experience that a tourist nation demands.
The Welcome campaign is the start of this process. Linked to it is the launch in January next year of the learnership programme funded by the Department of Labour and the Business Trust. This programme will improve the skills and service levels, while at the same time opening the door to new entrants into the industry with SMME training.
In February our international marketing campaign in our Traditional Big Six market starts and we begin the research to open up new, emerging markets to South Africa.
This is why it is important that the nation starts to get ready. And the Welcome campaign will put down the first blocks.
It is important to note that the Welcome campaign is not about.
Firstly it is not a government campaign. It is driven by the private sector … through corporate sponsors coming on board. It is also not owned by anyone … it is a campaign for all South Africans to own.
And most importantly it is not about sweeping our problems under the carpet. Welcome is about acknowledging the problems and doing something about them.
Welcome is a campaign of action for all South Africans to participate in and has a logo to spearhead it.
Welcome is about taking pride in being a South African, so it uses the one icon that unites us … our new flag.
Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to introduce to a character that you will be seeing a lot of!