12 SEPTEMBER 2008 -
The National Pilot Project to curb illegal
guiding in South Africa was launched today,
12 September 2008 in Pretoria.
The pilot project intends to curb illegal
tourist guiding by unregistered guides and
will focus on Gauteng in the pilot phase.
The project focuses on increasing registration
through positive means such as education
and site inspections.
Spearheaded by the National
Department of Environmental Affairs and
Tourism (DEAT), this joint initiative is
also supported by the Gauteng Tourism Authority
(GTA), the City of Tshwane and other key
role players.
In her address during
the launch of the pilot, Deputy Director
General of Environment & Tourism, Ms
Sindiswa Nhlumayo emphasised the importance
of tourist guiding in the tourism value
chain. “Tourist guides constitute a vital
link between the tourists and our country’s
attraction sites. In so doing Tourist Guides
serve as ambassadors of the tourism sector,”
said Nhlumayo.
Illegal tourist guides
hamper positive growth in the tourism industry
says the Gauteng Tourism Authority (GTA).
Through inaccurate information and sub-standard
service provision, it has stated that such
practices rob the country of the chance
to make a positive impact on tourists. The
issue of responsible tourism is of paramount
importance in ensuring that Gauteng develops
as a sustainable and responsible travel
destination in line with international fair
trade practices.
Tourism growth in South
Africa has continued to rise annually due
to what Minister van Schalkwyk terms as
South Africa being “a sought after destination.
” This in turn has encouraged growth within
the tourism sector. However, careful standardisation
of this service is hugely important to ensure
the continued growth of the industry. Says
Mpho Moeti, Gauteng Tourism Authority (GTA)
Registrar, “The image, perceptions and impressions
of the Province are solely dependent on
how the tourist guide reflects the spaces
and places of Gauteng.”
With the growth of the
industry, it has become apparent that some
tour guides are practicing illegally, as
they are not registered with the GTA. Through
positive means such as education, consultative
workshops and site inspections, the GTA
aims to increase compliance of tourist guides
with the relevant legislation that governs
the industry. Further the Department of
Environmental Affairs and Tourism during
the months of August- September 2008 has
conducted consultative workshops in all
provinces in order to raise awareness in
this regard.
In South Africa Tourist
Guiding activities are regulated by the
Tourism Second Amendment Act, No.70 of 2000.
According to the Act any person who wishes
to be involved in the tourist guiding activity
must be registered.
There are a number of requirements for compliance
to legislation for one to register as a
tourist guide, amongst others are: registering
with the Provincial Registrar for Tourist
Guides in your province. Registration cost
is R240 and is renewable every two years.
For more details contact office of the National
Registrar of Tourist Guides at 086 111 2468.
Moeti stresses, “Communities
and local enterprises must actively benefit
from tourism activities undertaken in the
Province, whilst at the same time offering
the tourist an enhanced experience and protecting
our unique natural resources. ” Since most
tourists are likely to have read or heard
about South Africa before visiting, it is
vital that accurate information is disseminated
to them on arrival.
The tourist guide is
often the person that the tourist will have
most contact with in a country. This means
that tourist guides need to be well-trained
and knowledgeable about their country in
order to send those tourists home with a
good impression of the country. Moeti reiterates
this, “Most travellers would have read or
heard about a place before their visit,
thus the issue of promise versus delivery
becomes crucial when they arrive in Gauteng.”
Pule Malefane, Gauteng
Tourism Authority’s acting Chief Executive
highlights that, “illegal guiding also takes
a form of tour operators who venture into
guiding without proper training and qualification
in this specific area, thus depriving properly
qualified and registered tourist guides
of opportunities to earn income from their
trade”.
This week, the GTA will
hold meetings with both registered and unregistered
tourist guides in order to improve service
delivery within the industry, as well as
to decide on an effective action plan to
increase tourist guide registration and
standardisation in future.
Ms Nhlumayo cited training
and development of tourist guides as an
area with challenges relating to quality,
standardisation and coherence in training.
To address this DEAT is engaging all relevant
stakeholders such as the Standard Generating
Body, SAQA and THETA. Higher learning institutions
involved in training of guides and the Association
of Private Training Providers are also being
engaged.
Government’s commitment
to tourist guiding was further articulated
by Ms Nhlumayo who spoke about the readiness
of tour guides for the 2010 FIFA World Cup
and beyond. The national department has
embarked on training of guides in foreign
languages. To date guides have been trained
in Mandarin, French, Spanish and German.
Training of guides in Portuguese and Chinese
will take place soon.
In addition 108 guides
from across the country will embark on training
in advanced Customer Care, communication
in English and the ambassador programme
for host cities
For media queries contact
Judith van der Merwe (DEAT) on 083 321 2617
or Khumbu Sithole (GTA) on 082 356 5859
ISSUED ON 12 SEPTEMBER 2008
+ More
Keynote Address by the
Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs
and Tourism, the Honourable Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi,
on the occasion of donation of wildlife
by the Republic of South Africa to the Kingdom
of Lesotho at Tsehlanyane National Park
11 September 2008 –
Speech - Department of Environmental Affairs
and Tourism
Program Director
Prime minister of the Kingdom of Lesotho:
Ntate Pakalitha Mosisili
Kingdom of Lesotho’s Minister of Tourism,
Environment and Culture: Mme Lebohang Ntsinyi
Chairperson of Libaka Leribe district: Ntate
Putsoane Mare
Executive managers of Tsehlanyane National
Park
Distinguished guests
Members of the media
Ladies and Gentlemen:
1. Introduction
Last year in September we met at Maloti-Drakensberg
Trans-Frontier Park to launch the cross-border
and regional tourism route in one of the
richest biodiversity areas in the world.
As representatives of both countries we
reached a consensus that cross-border tourism
activities were work in progress and we
both anticipated subsequent joint gatherings.
It is a great pleasure
to meet you again and to note that the predictions
we made over the years are coming true.
The future meetings should be dedicated
to celebrating the realization of the investment
we made 11 years ago which today is culminating
in strengthening each other’s economic position.
2. Lesotho and South
African Presidents’ Meeting
In 2006 our respective presidents, Mr. Thabo
Mbeki and Mr. Pakalitha Mosisili, met to
explore economic cooperation over a wide
range of issues. Tourism and cross-border
conservation of international important
sites located in this vicinity formed part
of the crucial agreement.
As a direct consequence
of that agreement and other bilateral agreements
entered into between the two countries in
the past, Lesotho is today a major supplier
of water to South Africa.
3. Wildlife Donation
The Kingdom of Lesotho gave effect to the
cooperation agreement by immediately requesting
South Africa to donate game in a bid to
revitalize tourist attraction in Tsehlanyane
National Park.
Following the request
for assistance from Lesotho to re-stock
their national park, I’m pleased to be a
messenger of good news and wish to announce
that 10 eland will be given to the Kingdom
of Lesotho.
The donation of these
animals was made possible by the generosity
of the South African MECs of Tourism and
Environment of Free State, Eastern Cape
and KZN as well as South African National
Parks.
My counterpart shared
her country’s ambition to have abundance
of wildlife in the near future. In nurturing
this ambition, Tsehlanyane National Park
can be strategically used as a breeding
ground for games which will be trans-located
to other parks as animal population grows
here.
Revitalizing other parks
through this approach can translate the
ambition into realizable goals and the Kingdom
of Lesotho will indeed teem with wildlife
in few years time.
4. Boundless Southern
Africa
Nine ministers of Environment and Tourism
in the SADC region gathered in Durban in
May this year during the annual Tourism
Indaba.
The highlight of this
year’s event was the official launch of
Boundless Southern African marketing strategy
by the nine countries, including the Kingdom
of Lesotho, to promote Trans-Frontier Conservation
Areas in our region.
The aim of this initiative
is to market our region as a single entity
and spread the tourism benefit equally to
all states in Southern Africa.
My department has set
up a directorate to provide assistance to
all participating countries requiring logistical
support in their marketing initiatives.
2010 Soccer World Cup
is now around the corner and SADC has identified
the TFCA as the correct mechanism for spreading
the benefits of tourism across the region
through marketing these areas as the premier
international tourist destination.
A catalogue containing
investment opportunities and guidelines
on how to invest in TFCAs and incentives
is already published.
This year in March we
held an Inter-Ministerial conference in
Luanda, Angola, to concretize our plans
to open our borders to tourist and make
their movements hassle free with One Visa,
otherwise known as UNIVISA.
This process will bring
an end to the delaying and inconveniencing
bureaucracy of visa application whilst enabling
tourist to visit our beautiful sites and
spend at tourism establishments across the
borders.
The TFCA programme is
well aligned to the objectives of the NEPAD
Environmental Action Plan (NEAP).
NEAP emphasizes Cross-Border
Conservation or Management of Natural Resources
as an important vehicle for strategically
building on the biodiversity and economic
linkages of sustainable development, as
well as strengthening regional cooperation.
5. Protection of Wildlife
Ladies and Gentlemen: every investor wants
to reap and enjoy the fruits of their investment.
Investments face and negotiate difficult
impediments before achieving desired results.
Our greatest challenges are poaching, hunting,
destruction of heritage resources and safety
of our tourists.
The government of the
Kingdom of Lesotho is advised to introduce
measures to counter these negative possibilities
which may rob them of the fruits of their
investment.
Public education always
come handy in teaching the citizens about
foregoing short-term gains for long term
sustainable economic benefits for everyone.
I cannot overemphasize the importance of
guarding jealously against disruptive elements
to our investment.
6. Conclusion
If nurtured well, this investment will reward
the citizens of this kingdom with multiplication
of animals, tourists and creation of sustainable
jobs and substantial contribution to your
country’s Gross Domestic Product. You have
already made the right decisions to invest
for a brighter tomorrow. I urge you to steadfastly
hold to this noble dream and you will be
rewarded.
Thank you.
Mava Scott (Acting Chief Director: Communications)
