Improving visitor experiences in South Africa is an important goal for the Department of Tourism, which has allocated a large portion of its budget to the task. Initiatives in this regard include guide training, enhancing attractions and maintaining the country’s beaches.

Tourism Minister, Derek Hanekom, told Tourism Update around R800 million was left after allocations had been made to SA Tourism.

“A large chunk of that is spent on social responsibility programmes and small business support while it also goes into running the department,” he said, adding this included salary and office costs, including offices abroad. “While we don’t have a massive department we do have regulatory responsibilities and that budget has to do that.”

He said there were no magic split for the budget and no easy answer to whether less money should be spent on the department and more on marketing the country internationally. “We simply cannot put our entire budget into marketing campaigns. There are costs to running the department,” he said. “We do believe however that by spending the budget more wisely to improve visitor experiences, we will automatically be marketing the country more.”

He said it was important that improvements were continuously being made to improve the product and to allow travellers a better experience while in South Africa.

With this in mind the department is increasing language courses for guides.

“Having guides that speak the language of visitors is of increasing importance. It allows for a more profound experience and as a department we have earmarked language courses for guides as a priority.”

He said two language-training courses were on track for this year, which would see guides trained to speak Russian and Mandarin.

“At the same time we are not packaging our cultural diversity well enough. This is an area where we want to see more budget being spent on,” he said. “Cultural villages have to be extended and expanded to allow for real experiences that wow visitors.”

He said one area that would receive immediate attention was the Cradle of Humankind in Maropeng, where the department was funding enhancements.

“While there are many places in the country where little needs to be done to create an experience that blows visitors away there are many attractions including the likes of Robben Island that need work. We have to enhance what is on offer to allow for more profound and captivating experiences.”

He said at Robben Island, visitor information services would be enhanced in the next few months while the department was also in the process of training guides. “Crucial information about the island is also being digitised which means that this legacy will be preserved for future generations.”

He said sites such as the Nelson Mandela capture site in KwaZulu-Natal would be improved with this existing budget.

“This will see signage and information improved not only at this site but several other iconic national heritage sites that symbolise the life of Nelson Mandela such as the statues of Madiba at the Union Buildings and Freedom Park in Gauteng and the Drakenstein Correctional Facility in the Western Cape.”

According to Hanekom, making the South African experience more memorable was a priority for the “Working for Tourism” programme set to be launched in the next few months.

“This programme will kick off in this financial year with the employment of 200 young people who will assist in retaining the blue flag status of our beaches. This all ensures South Africa is marketed,” he said. “After spending time on one of our beaches people go home and they market the country further.”

Hanekom admitted that the budget had constraints in that it could never possibly pay for everything that needed to be done which was why the department was reviewing not only the budget of SA Tourism to ensure money was spent well but also that of the department itself.

“Some projects we have invested in have been very successful and some not so much. We are currently relooking at the model that we use for this process so that it becomes more sustainable and that we see more success,” he said.

According to Hanekom it remains difficult to find the right balance between how much money should be spent on marketing the country and how much for the department.

“We believe if we use the budget that we do have left after allocating funds to SA Tourism well we can without any additional marketing bring higher number of people to South Africa.”