South African Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille, says township and village tourism have much to offer in terms of boosting the economy.
“I firmly believe that township and village tourism has so much to offer and so much untapped potential and we must place more focus on this area to showcase our hidden gems and the true magic of our villages and townships,” said de Lille.
Addressing the inaugural Township and Village Tourism Expo hosted by the SA Township and Village Tourism Organisation at the Cradle of Humankind in Maropeng last week, De Lille said the expo aimed to shine a light on tourism products in villages and townships where people from disadvantaged backgrounds were breaking through barriers to take their claim in the tourism sector.
“I have found only warm, kind and committed people in tourism in every part of this country and I look forward to exploring even more hidden gems this year and pushing harder with all partners to take the entire tourism sector to the next level.”
De Lille commended the organisers of the expo for their objective of fostering strong community engagement by involving local residents, community leaders, and stakeholders in the planning and execution of the expo.
“Promoting township and village tourism is an integral part of diversifying our tourism offerings so that we can grow the economy, the sector and the number of jobs created by this sector.
“I am therefore pleased that the South African National Convention Bureau has provided financial support to this expo and that SA Tourism has also supported it through marketing it at global events such as World Travel Market London.
“I have often said that we must place more on emphasising township and village tourism, especially in the annual Sho’t Left campaign.”
De Lille said her department wanted to help the organisers to achieve their vision of developing townships and villages into smart residential and business hubs that fostered job creation, social cohesion and marketed indigenous tourism experiences.
“We are your partner to transform the tourism industry and expand the value chain to be more inclusive and attract tourism investment to townships and villages.
“We need to showcase our culture, history, indigenous cultures and people to visitors from all over the world because I am certain that those are the experiences that will leave them with memories they will treasure forever and stories that will captivate them for years to come.
“We need to do better at marketing our history and cultures and show more people places like what is known as ‘Nobel Street’ where we showcase Vilakazi Street in Soweto as being the home of two Nobel Peace Laureates, our dear Tata Madiba and Archbishop Desmond Tutu,” de Lille said.
