Tourism leaders have expressed hope that the sector will receive the recognition it deserves – and the right resources allocated – when Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, delivers his Budget Speech to Parliament tomorrow afternoon (February 22)
This follows the State of the Nation Address delivered earlier this month by President Cyril Ramaphosa where scant attention was paid to South Africa’s tourism, travel and hospitality sector.
CEO of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA), Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, highlighted that tourism provided good value for money with high return on investment and solid returns on employment.
“We need to see tourism being prioritised in terms of the amount of money that is allocated to this important industry,” he said, adding that it was also crucial that all the other sub-sectors impacting on tourism were also allocated sufficient resources to be able to address issues affecting tourism growth.
Tshivhengwa added that he hoped to see more resources allocated to the maintenance, upgrade and repair of transport infrastructure, particularly with regard to roads and bridges leading to tourism attractions.
He said resources addressing cleanliness of cities and towns visited by tourists also needed to be stepped up, as well as towards the marketing of Destination South Africa to primary source markets.
Rosemary Anderson, FEDHASA National Chair, reiterated the need for prioritising tourism: “For so long, the tourism industry has received scant regard in our Budget Speeches and SONAs, yet our industry is one of the major employers in our country.
“And even more so, if our Government created the environment where we would not be held back by the many Government-controlled obstacles, we could literally create millions of new jobs in South Africa.”
She pointed out that tourism and hospitality could be the silver bullet for job creation the country. “Massive joblessness is our single biggest social and economic threat to our much-loved country.”
Alan Campbell, Sales and Marketing Director of ANEW Hotels & Resorts, said: “Our beloved hospitality and tourism industry requires some much-needed encouraging news.”
According to Campbell, before the COVID-19 pandemic, South Africa’s tourism sector accounted for approximately 7.1% of Africa’s GDP and contributed US$169 billion to the continent’s economy.
“We hope for respite and good news that the much-anticipated budget speech will assist in tackling some of our industry challenges. As analyst, Dion Chang, recently put this into context, 2022 was the year of ‘Permacrisis'. This was a period where we reshaped and figured out new ways of working to recover from the instability and insecurity following the pandemic.”
Campbell highlighted that the most recent festive period indicated an optimistic increase in international travellers (and loads of domestic travellers) enjoying the glorious product – South Africa.
“Having been through this reassuring upheaval, the tourism and hospitality industries are looking forward to receiving a pragmatic message from the minister.
“From our business’s perspective, we (ANEW Hotels & Resorts) are approaching this announcement enthusiastically because a positive outlook needs to start at home and spread further.
“The new financial year of 2023 presents us with a lot of optimism because we intend to expand our connections, invest in our people, and continue to invest in this glorious country. It is imperative that a positive outlook then spread outwards. When a crisis strikes, South Africans are fantastic at coming up with innovative solutions, resulting in growth and success stories – much like ours.”
