Minister of Tourism, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, launched the Tourism Sector Recovery Plan (TSRP) at a media briefing at the Sandon Convention Centre today (April 22).
“The plan would not be possible without the co-operation and input from the private sector and we are grateful for their assistance,” said the Minister, noting that the COVID-19 crisis had made it evident that collaboration was the only way forward.
The TSRP is aligned to the Presidential Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (ERRP) which has identified tourism as one of the priority areas of intervention. It is anchored on three strategic themes:
- Re-igniting demand
- Rejuvenation supply
- Strengthening enabling capability
Kubayi-Ngubane highlighted that some of the interventions around the three pillars included improved regional integration and collaboration, government investment in tourism infrastructure as well as a review of the tourism policy to improve sector growth and development.
Some examples of this include closer collaboration with neighbouring countries to package different destinations and give tourists wider choices (e.g, Cape Town, Victoria Falls, and Chobe) and launching an investment mobilisation programme.
Domestic, regional and international demand
The TSRP’s Re-ignite Demand pillar also focuses on stimulating domestic demand through targeted initiatives and campaigns as well as executing a global marketing campaign to woo international tourists.
Kubayi-Ngubane emphasised the importance of the international tourism market to South Africa’s economy but pointed out that a domestic focus was critical, especially in the interim period while international travel recovered.
“Accommodation establishments in particular have seen up to 90% occupancy rates by marketing to the domestic market,” she said.
CEO of South African Tourism, Sisa Ntshona, reiterated that tourism would recover in phases, starting with domestic tourism, then regional and finally, international.
“The fact that many South Africans aren’t travelling overseas has also seen them book more local trips. We need to ensure we retain their spend in South Africa once we return to the ‘new normal’ and that necessitates a targeted, strategic approach,” he said.
Building on that, CEO of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa, Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, said regional integration was critical to recovery of the sector. He acknowledged that the success of this would depend on closer collaboration and harmonisation of regulations and standards.
“From the private sector’s side, we have started those conversations with our regional counterparts, exploring the challenges and opportunities so that we can submit proposals to government on the way forward,” he said.
Ntshona added that regional integration was important both in terms of developing source markets and encouraging increased intra-regional travel as well as from a destination marketing and packaging perspective.
Key enablers
Some of the key enablers ensuring the success of the TSRP included the need to form targeted partnerships between government and the private sector, ensuring the rapid deployment of the COVID-19 vaccine and addressing legacy issues such as fast-tracking the issuing of operators’ licences, said Kubayi-Ngubane.
Another enabler, she added, would be for government to lift its ban on travel, meetings and conferences and start spending on transport, hotels and conference venues.
Ntshona noted that government would hold itself accountable for the implementation of the TSRP. “We will monitor the success, the challenges and the outcomes of the plan on a quarterly basis,” he said.
