With the BRICS group of countries inviting a further six countries (Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates), to join its ranks next year, we wanted to gauge readers’ response to whether expansion of the economic bloc would benefit tourism.
The results of our latest poll show readers are divided, with 35% saying it would be a positive driver of tourism to South Africa, and 34% saying no. The remaining 31% selected ‘Maybe’ as their response.
SADC Alliance: where should the focus lie?
Nine months since its launch, the SADC Business Council Tourism Alliance has launched a number of private-sector-led initiatives to “unlock the barriers to tourism growth in the region”.
Involving stakeholders from 16 SADC countries, the alliance has identified skills development, accessibility, knowledge-sharing and collaborative marketing as some of its key focus areas. Earlier this month, the alliance launched a SADC Skills Gap Audit, which is seeking to better understand the COVID-19-induced skills shortages in the sector and find ways to plug the gaps.
Which of the alliance’s priority areas do you think should take precedence?
Our poll question this week is:
