Johannesburg, 29 May 2000
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On an occasion such as yours it is appropriate to make a few comments about government's approach in putting Tourism at the centre stage of economic activity in our country. Tourism, more that any other sector of the economy holds the potential to create jobs and stimulate economic growth. It is rapidly overtaking the contribution of gold mining to the GDP. The quarterly bulletin of the Reserve Bank reported that in the first nine months of 1999 there had been a nine percent growth in employment in the catering and accommodation sector. This is welcome news.
SATOUR and the International Marketing campaign
We are doing everything in our power to enhance the full potential of tourism in our country. In the last few months we have set in place key building blocks to achieve this goal including: the restructuring of SATOUR to build its capacity as a key marketing agency for South Africa.
The result of this restructuring is that SATOUR is loaded with capable individuals from both the private and public sectors. This new SATOUR board is championing South Africa's biggest ever-marketing campaign supported with a marketing budget of R225m. It is heartening to report that the private sector will contribute R75m of this budget.
This year an in-depth market research is to be conducted so that we expand from our traditional European markets into Africa, India, the Middle East and the United States.
The role of South Africans to welcome tourists
There is no point in attracting many tourists to our country and then not make them feel welcome through high service standards, proper and world class infrastructure and a simple friendliness that simply says: Welcome!
The highly successful "Welcome" campaign was launched in December last year directed at the South African public to raise awareness on the role tourism can play in creating a better life for our people and why tourism should be everyone's business.
This is where the role of the Media comes into sharp focus. South African Travel Writers have an invaluable role to play in projecting our country as a world class tourism destination.
There has been too many negative reports in the Media that set us back in our quest to market South Africa and pitch it against the best destinations in the world. While we do not expect South African writers to sing praises of the government all the time - we do expect that they would go out of their way to sing the praises of the wealth of cultural and natural the heritage of this country that we have to share with the world.
South Africa has the largest rock art collection in the world speaking volumes about humanity. How many writers have taken the time to expose the rock paintings of South Africa and to translate what their significance is? There are prejudices about African Countries in terms of what they can offer the world travellers, you as travel writers have a role to play in turning this tide around.
The transformation of the travel industry
This year we will attract new investment to tourism, and at the same time create opportunities for black people to enter what is still a very white dominated industry.
1. As part of the Lubombo Spatial Development Initiative, we will be putting on the market 16 eco-tourism investment opportunities in the Greater St Lucia Wetlands Park worth aver R650m. This will create much-needed jobs in north-eastern KwaZulu-Natal.2. This year the South African National Parks will award concessions to private sector operators for no less than nine lodge sites, seven of these in the Kruger National Park. The travel writers forum must make it its business to watch the progress in the transformation of the travel industry to be reflective of the South African population. The recent Indaba held in Durban highlighted that this industry still needs a lot of shaking up. One would have thought that that exhibition was taking place in Europe. We need to change this by creating opportunities for our people to be involved in this industry.
We know that in order for you to be effective in your work we need to give you access to information. A lot of initiatives are underway to put package information in cutting edge technology. To this end:
1. SA.NET website has been launched a as an electronic gateway to South African Tourism Information.2. The Annual Report of the Department of Environmental affairs and Tourism has been written in a friendly manner to enable the reuse of this information to circulate information about what South Africa. This report can now also be found on our website.
In conclusion
This morning I was addressing the AGM of the Gauteng Tourist Guide Association. I briefed them about the new legislation on Tour Guides.
The Bill provides for the transfer of the proposed national tourist guide function from SATOUR to the Department of Environmental Affairs & Tourism and the proposed provincial tourist guide function down to provincial level. This would require co-ordination between our department and the provinces to facilitate the implementation of the provincial tourist guiding functions.
The tourist guiding staff members, presently residing at SATOUR, will be accommodated at DEAT. The logistics are being put in place, for this transitional arrangement, which will be finalised as soon as this Bill becomes law.
It will be the responsibility of the national registrar at DEAT to establish and maintain a national database of all tour guides. The national registrar will in consultation with the provincial tourist guide registrars, prepare a code of conduct for tourist guides; hear and determine appeals lodged; roll out programmes to improve quality of service in the guiding sector; facilitate broader access of historically disadvantaged communities into tour guiding; monitor trends in the tourist guiding industry by conducting research and analysis and publishing of tourist guide information.
The writers forum should find and ally in these kinds of associations as they can partner with them to promote our country.
I wish you well and hope to work with you in the future.
Issued by the Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, 29 May 2000