Tour operators and accommodation establishment owners want to see the local benefits of the Tourism Marketing South Africa (TOMSA) money collected, according to members of the trade who attended the Power of One Roadshow hosted by SA Tourism in Midrand last week.

Mmatsatsi Ramawela, CEO of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA), tried to encourage the trade to contribute to collecting the 1% TOMSA levy that goes into marketing destination South Africa globally. However, some members of the audience felt that benefits of the levy were not evident and that the extra cost would impact negatively on monthly business turnover.

In response to some of the concerns, Ramawela suggested including the levy in their rate, transferring the cost to the tourist. One guesthouse owner responded that by increasing the rate even by R8 per booking would impact on their competitive advantage when compared with other establishments in the area.

“It then becomes your responsibility,” Ramawela responded. “You need to start using the thing they call peer pressure. You must start talking to those establishments in your area because you are in the business of tourism and you must stand up for marketing tourism, and that is how it will gradually grow.”

Another member of the audience said Ramawela’s message would be more powerful if she could show them how the R100 million that was collected last year through the levy was spent by SA Tourism.

Ramawela said the R100 million did not allow them to do the work they wanted to do because it was just not enough when compared with marketing budgets in other countries. She said SA Tourism’s marketing budget granted by the government was minimal and could not deliver the kind of marketing that was being done abroad, but that the TOMSA levy was a way to change that and add to the existing budget. However, she said this required the industry to get on board. 

“We see this now as a tax because we don’t actually see at all the way it’s been spent,” another member of the trade said. “There has been no open book with regard to the Tourism Grading Council where the money’s being spent that we pay on a yearly basis, so maybe next year it would be great if you could show us exactly where the money is going.”

“SAT subsidises exhibiting your product at any of the trade shows SAT participates in. You can have meetings at SAT offices around the world and actually use its offices to meet with local tour operators in North America, for example. They put you in touch with the right places. If people don’t see you, see your name, they forget about you and that is why marketing is so important,” Ramawela said. “Those establishments that chose to rather put money into local associations to market their business are kidding themselves. SAT already has established connections that local industry can leverage off of and use to their advantage.”

According to Ramawela, there are between 25 000 and 30 000 tourism businesses in South Africa and 522 businesses contributed last year. She said that contributing to the levy was ultimately the right thing to do and that it was up to the industry to decide whether they wanted to contribute or not.