“WORKING together, we can do more to build new opportunities.” This was the message from the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Tokozile Xasa, at the School of Tourism and Hospitality at the University of Johannesburg on Wednesday, August 12.
Xasa affirmed that the South African government was committed to working with tourism industry members to speed up economic growth and transform the economy.
Although the country has felt the negative impact of difficult economic times, South Africa’s tourism sector has proved more resilient than other economic sectors. “Despite economic challenges, we welcomed more than 9,5 million visitors last year,” Xasa said. “While South Africa is not immune to the effects of the economic crisis, January 2009’s international foreign arrival trends showed a 5,4% growth.
“Now is the ideal time to determine how tourism can benefit from measures applied to stimulate the economic recovery,” said Xasa.
To capitalise on the potential of tourism benefits such as infrastructure development, employment creation and generating foreign earnings, Xasa said government was committed to building domestic, regional and long-haul markets. “We will build on stringent quality-control systems that ensure value for money and the unique selling points of South Africa’s natural heritage.”
Other important challenges the government is committed to are the improvement of market analysis, product diversification, and people and skills development in the industry. “We also need to limit tourism channel restrictions, like long visa processing times, maintain and expand affordable and more competitive air access, and develop rural tourism infrastructure,” said Xasa.
The Department of Tourism has allocated more than R936m for 2009 to 2012 to further develop the tourism sector, focusing on rural tourism. The government has also made large investments in education and training, with education awarded the largest share of the national budget over the past 15 years. The focus to strengthen the skills and human resource base includes an improvement of learner outcomes by 20% in the key education indicators by 2014.
“Tourism is one of the major contributors to our Gross Domestic Product – truly South Africa’s new gold – and I believe our setting is apt,” concluded Xasa.
