All media houses
are invited to the Celebration of the National
Parks Week which will take place at the
Mapungubwe National Park on Monday, 22 September
2008.
With the theme ”Know
Your Parks”, this initiative is an annual
event with an ultimate goal of ensuring
that all South Africans, especially the
black majority, develop a sense of pride
and ownership of our country’s parks and
protected areas.
The key message for
this event is that by taking pride in our
country’s richness in biodiversity and cultural
resources, we will consolidate our efforts
to unite people from diverse cultural backgrounds.
This is necessary in order to position our
national parks as a unifying symbol for
the promotion of nation building, social
cohesion and moral regeneration.
The Deputy Minister
of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Ms
Rejoice Mabudafhasi will give a keynote
address to raise public awareness on the
importance of conserving natural and cultural
heritage for the benefit of the current
and future generations. The MEC for Arts,
Sports and Culture, Ms Joyce Mashamba and
the CEO of the Freedom Park Trust, Dr Wally
Serote are expected to deliver messages
of support at this event.
Amongst the more than
500 members of the public who are expected
to attend this event, there will be representatives
of the Mapungubwe descendants who successfully
repatriated and reburied the remains of
their ancestors at Mapungubwe National Park.
This process was concluded in November 2007,
after a lengthy and protracted process of
negotiation with institutions that held
these remains.
Keynote Address for
the Honorable Deputy Minister of Environmental
Affairs and Tourism, the Honorable Ms Rejoice
Mabudafhasi on the Occasion of Gauteng Tourism
Development Strategy (GTDS) Held At Newtown,
SAB: 18 September 2008
18 September 2008 -
Speech - Event: Gauteng Tourism Development
Strategy Launch
Program Director
Premier of Gauteng Province: Mr. Mbhazima
Shilowa
Gauteng MEC of Finance and Economic Development:
Mr. Paul Mashatile
CEO of Gauteng Tourism Authority: Mr. Pule
Malefane
Distinguished guests
Members of the media
Ladies and Gentlemen:
1. Introduction
South Africa is a developmental state which
is grappling with challenges of finding
stability in growing the economy, ensure
food security and create sustainable jobs
and eradicate poverty. Tourism growth producing
unprecedented economic spin-offs has demonstrated
the capability to contribute in a big way
to find lasting solution to these challenges.
With foreign arrivals
of over 8.6 million annually, tourism growth
in South Africa continues to record higher
successes which exceed international set
average of 5.5% growth. This performance
is realized despite economic challenges
of high interest rates, exorbitant food
and fuel prices experienced in 2008.
Gauteng's share of this
growth has remained constant at about 50%
of all international tourists to South Africa
and the share in domestic tourism stands
at 20%. The majority of these domestic travelers
(68%) are people visiting friends and relatives.
2. Gauteng Tourism Authority
It is pleasing to note that Gauteng Provincial
Government has identified tourism as a key
sector to drive economic growth and development
and one of the key mechanisms in achieving
the goals set out in the Gauteng Growth
and Development Strategy, the Gauteng Spatial
Development Perspective and the Gauteng
2014 Vision. This proactive approach aligning
the brand position of Gauteng to the South
African “alive with possibilities” brand
position and developing it from a competitive
Global City Region perspective to act as
a catalyst for improved integration and
co-ordination of institutions leading to
higher rates of economic growth and development
is a commendable initiative.
This will in turn ensure
positive impact to the goal of increasing
visitor numbers and bed-nights spent in
the province as well as visitor spend and
tourism’s contribution to the provincial
economy.
Gauteng province boasts
advanced infrastructural and facilities
development. The provincial tourism authority
should take advantage of these high level
pillars to provide a framework for integrating
tourism activities and partnerships within
a common purpose but the implementation
of projects and programmes will be the real
measures of success. The strategy further
seeks to facilitate customer visitation
on the one side, with the areas of management
required to facilitate customer satisfaction
and repeat visitation on the other side,
as an integrated process.
The Gauteng Tourism
Authority has a vision to be the fastest
growing and most desirable globally competitive
tourism destination. The rationale for formulating
this particular vision is based on the desire
for Gauteng to become a globally competitive
tourism destination through delivery of
high quality experiences, customer service
and tailoring products to ensure a uniquely
surprising experience and the highest level
of customer satisfaction.
2.1. Day to day focus
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Excellent results are always preceded by
hard work. Gauteng Tourism Authority should
have proper logistics in place to deliver
a high quality visitors experience which
is continually surprising and exciting visitors
to Gauteng. Tourists who return to their
respective countries happy automatically
become our ambassadors and subsequently
market our products overseas. Visitor numbers
increase for longer stay which will increase
our tourism revenue with very little effort
from us.
However, we must not be under any illusion
that achieving high tourism growth is a
huge task which requires all systems to
be in place and ready. Responsible development
of tourism that is commercially viable,
environmentally conscious and culturally
sensitive is a challenge which government
cannot handle alone. The private sector
has a greater role to play in making strategic
investment in tourism product and small
enterprise development and must always consider
themselves invited.
One of the simplest mottos for developed
countries and probably for wealthy people
is the continuous self constructive criticism
on business plans and assessment of achievements
in an endeavor to enhance their performance.
Likewise, Gauteng Tourism Authority will
need to continually refine their product
by paying attention to:
Identifying and continually
monitoring core and growth target markets
and segments, their perceptions, preferences
and travel behaviour to inform tourism planning
Define and communicate Gauteng’s tourism
branding elements
Raise awareness of Gauteng’s experiences,
destinations and icons in core and tactical
target markets
Improve product development, packaging and
promotion
Strengthen gateways, product clusters, linkages
between attractions and destinations within
Gauteng and between Gauteng and other provinces
Identify both “quick wins” and future “flagship”
product development projects
Facilitate improvement of product quality,
standards and accreditation
Support the national and provincial approach
to transformation in the tourism industry
Provide clarity on the tourism institutional
structure in Gauteng and the split of roles
and responsibilities between public sector,
private sector and tourism implementing
authorities
3. Statistics
Our international marketing strategy in
British Broadcasting Corporation, CNN, National
Geographic Channel and other media in Europe
and across our continent has ensured that
South African tourism product are known
worldwide. We have already started to enjoy
the fruits of our hard work as the number
of tourists we attract increases every year.
Highlights of this hard
work in the first five months of 2008 are
as follows:
Overall foreign arrivals
grew by 7,6 percent from January to May
2008 to reach a total of almost four million
(3,983,061).
Arrivals from the Americas have shown consistent
annual growth since 2002. From January to
May this year there were over 26 000 more
visitors arriving from the United States
(US), bringing the total figure to 161 550
for the region including Canada. This represents
an increase of 13,6 percent over the same
period in 2007.
Arrivals from Brazil, a market on which
South African Tourism is increasingly concentrating,
rose by 19 percent to 14 432 arrivals.
Growth out of Asia and Australasia was led
by growth in two key markets, namely China
at 17,4 percent and India at 16,2 percent.
Australia continues to grow steadily with
a 12,4 percent increase for the period while
Japan increased by 3,6 percent.
Arrivals from the air markets in Africa
(Kenya and Nigeria) grew at 19,5 percent,
while land markets saw growth at 6,4 percent.
Compared to the figure of less than 600
000 foreign visitors in 1994, the long term
growth we have seen is truly something to
celebrate.
4. Tourism Growth, Job Opportunities and
the Economy
With an increase of 8.3% in visitors to
the country from 2006, South Africa’s tourism
industry is a significant part of the country’s
GDP. To date, the industry caters for 7%
of South Africa’s jobs. The industry is
vital for the continued growth of the economy.
Now Gauteng Tourism
Authority has appealed to South Africans
to spend some time exploring Gauteng. Not
only has there been a 7.6% growth from January
to May of this year in foreign visitors
coming to South Africa, but over 5 million
South Africans have the resources and desire
to travel within their country.
They would do well to
spend some time venturing into these areas.
Chances are, they will be pleasantly surprised
to find a wide offering of beauty and wonder
just beyond their stoeps. Yet, South Africans
are generally unaware of the importance
of preserving tourist areas. We aim at encouraging
South Africans to see more of their country
since the more we learn about our surroundings,
the more likely we will be supportive and
protective of it.
In the past, South Africans
have traveled in their country to visit
friends and family, and rarely consider
themselves to be tourists. Gauteng boasts
among the country’s highest earners whose
only encounter with tourism is when they
travel the country on official business.
The change of mindset could potentially
lead to quadrupling of revenues.
5. Safety of tourists
It has recently been reported that the international
tourism industry to South Africa generated
more foreign exchange than gold in 2006
– South Africa attracted more than six million
international visitors in the first nine
months of last year. With this in mind,
it is increasingly important to monitor
the levels of satisfaction among travelers,
both domestic and foreign especially in
the run-up to the 2010 World Cup.
Our continuous excellent
tourism growth depends on the safety of
tourists visiting our country. With crime
levels under close scrutiny in the media
at the moment and news spreading at an alarming
speed, tourists who fall victims of crime
can within a matter of hours damage our
reputation. Issues of safety must find expression
in the GTDS and enforced.
A research and survey
company, Synovate’s, recently measured our
Domestic Tourism Barometer and scored us
a 78% satisfaction survey for tourists traveling
within South Africa.
Satisfaction levels
of Business travellers in South Africa are
slightly lower than the national overall
average – 73% indicate they are satisfied
as against 79% of all travellers (including
holiday and weekend away travellers).
46% of business travellers
stayed in hotels; 88% say they would stay
there again and the majority (51%) stayed
for 1-2 nights. 23% stayed with friends
and family; 11% stayed in self-catering
accommodation and 8% stayed in a game lodge.
Eight out of ten business travellers rate
the accommodation they stayed in and friendliness
of staff extremely well.
73% of business tourists
state that they felt safe during their most
recent trip vs. the national cumulative
overall average (including holiday travellers)
of 80.4%
Business travellers spend more per day than
leisure travellers - the overall average
daily spend recorded over all waves for
business travellers is R1 202.20 – compared
to the overall average daily spend of holiday
travellers at R991.00.
We need to work extra
hard in order to achieve a higher satisfaction
percentage to over 90%. We all know that
neglecting tourist safety will translate
into loss of jobs and recurrence of poverty
to those who have already escaped. We need
a situation where respondents to surveys
express a general atmosphere of feeling
safety and unanimously agree to recommend
families and friends to visit our country.
6. Conclusion
In conclusion, I would like to reiterate
that Gauteng Tourism Authority has chosen
to embark on a campaign offering plenty
of benefits to job seekers, hotel and catering
industry, the economy of Gauteng Provincial
Government and the country in general.
There is a good foundation
already laid by our department in collaboration
with South African Tourism. Gauteng Tourism
Authority only need to expand, but customize
messages for the purpose of their marketing.
It would benefit the province and the whole
spectrum of beneficiaries if relevant partnerships
and stakeholders are brought onboard.
Once more I would like
to commend you for developing this marketing
initiative. I hope it would be properly
implemented and contribute to creation of
much needed jobs and poverty eradication.
We have already launched War on Poverty
Campaign and we can’t afford to lose. Let’s
spare no effort in realizing this dream.
Thank you,
+ More
SPEECH DELIVERED BY
MARTHINUS VAN SCHALKWYK, MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL
AFFAIRS & TOURISM, AT THE 2ND ANNUAL
TOURISM BEE CONFERENCE AT THE CTICC ON 19
SEPTEMBER 2006
MEC Garth Strachan
Chairperson of the Tourism Empowerment Council
of South Africa
CEO of SA Tourism
DDG of Tourism
Members of the Council
Master of Ceremonies
Representatives of all levels of government
Distinguished guests
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Our tourism industry
plays a very important role in terms of
its contribution to economic growth, the
stimulation of economic activity, job creation
and as a tool to share South Africa’s unique
environment and the special hospitality
of its people with the rest of the world.
In the fifteen years
since the advent of democracy in South Africa
tourism has helped create more than a million
jobs and the industry has seen the emergence
of tens of thousands of new businesses.
In 2007 more than 9 million tourists visited
South Africa, which represents an increase
of 8.3% compared to 2006. This increase
is far stronger than the global growth of
just over 6% for the period.
We have also already
seen strong growth in the first five months
of 2008, with growth in overall foreign
arrivals of 7.6% from January to May. This
translates into almost 4 million visitors,
which tells me I don’t need a crystal ball
in order to confidently forecast that we
will exceed our target of 10 million foreign
arrivals by 2010.
Given the high growth
potential of the industry and the fact that
it accounts for 8% of our GDP, we also have
very high expectations of tourism. These
include that we expect it to welcome millions
of travellers a year and attract a growing
number of the world's tourists to our shores,
transform the industry without affecting
profits and contribute to the development
of all members of society. In the context
of the needs we face as a country, which
includes the imperative to continually transform
our society, I do not believe these expectations
are unreasonable.
Transformation is not
only a societal imperative, but also an
intervention of economic significance that
makes business sense.
For us to effectively
contribute to transformation we must ensure
we have:
• a clear vision of what we want to achieve;
• an appreciation of the challenges we’ll
face; and
• a vigorous strategy to get us where we
have to go.
Today I wish to articulate
our vision of how transformation in tourism
can contribute to the development of our
economy and help improve the prospects of
millions of our citizens.
I believe one of the
key success factors in ensuring sustained
growth in the tourism industry will be the
environment the industry creates to help
drive transformation. Research has confirmed
that travellers demand an experience authentic
to the country they visit, including an
industry that reflects transformation.
It is clear that travellers
are more likely to visit a country which
encourages broad participation in tourism
and ensures that benefits are shared equitably.
It is therefore crucial to view transformation
as a business opportunity and a key economic
driver of growth in the tourism industry.
In this context, transformation becomes
not only a political imperative, but a process
aimed at providing tourists with an integrated
South African experience. This can only
be achieved if significant numbers of black
people and local communities participate
meaningfully.
The gazetting of the
tourism sector BEE code earlier this year
has helped create an enabling environment
that can assist all role-players in the
industry to make it more representative
of our heritage, history and culture. I
believe this will also make the industry
as a whole more resilient and diversified,
which makes good business sense as we contemplate
growth strategies for the future.
As the number of visitors
to South Africa increases, we know we must
continually strive to increase our offering
of representative tourism experiences. We
cannot sustain our tourism growth figures
if a traveller experiences all the country
has to offer in one visit. We need to entice
visitors to return again and again, and
in order to do this we need to offer them
more.
By bringing more people
into the industry as owners, managers and
employers we unlock opportunities for sharing
experiences and expertise. Transformation
can help us innovate, enhance skills development,
expand our product offering and bring new
dimensions of management thinking into the
industry.
Fostering transformation
is a not a nice-to-have, but rather a significant
step that will contribute to the fulfilment
of our responsibilities and secure the prosperity
of the industry for all of us.
To this end, the Government
is acting as a catalyst for transformation.
We are putting in place interventions that
are aimed at ensuring compliance with the
Tourism BEE Charter and assisting the public
sector and organs of state to use their
procurement and regulatory powers to influence
change.
We still have some way to go before we fully
transform the industry, but I would like
to highlight a few significant strides which
have already been made in this respect.
In March this year the
JSE-listed City Lodge Family of Hotels concluded
a R485 million broad-based back economic
empowerment (BB-BEE) transaction with stakeholders.
These included its employees, the University
of Johannesburg's school of tourism and
hospitality and black-controlled investment
company Vuwa Investments. The major beneficiaries
of the deal are the Group's own staff and
Tourism and hospitality students.
In April Guma Tourism
made a R2 billion bid for a controlling
stake in Tourvest, the largest tourism company
in Southern Africa. Guma joined forces with
Old Mutual, the Industrial Development Corporation
and some of the Tourvest management in the
bid which will see them own a 51% controlling
share in Tourvest once the transaction has
been completed.
In August 2007, the
Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC) led
a consortium which included Peermont management,
individual promoters and community trusts
in a deal that resulted in an 83% black
ownership of Peermont. The transaction,
which was valued at R7,3 billion, made Peermont
the most empowered gaming and hospitality
company in South Africa. In May this year
Peermont and the MIC were awarded the BEE
Deal of the Year Award by the Wits Business
School. The award recognises companies for
transactions that offer long term, sustainable
and strategic value for the economy and
further consolidates black shareholder control
rather than just simple share transactions.
As I have illustrated,
there has been considerable progress with
regard to BEE when it comes to large enterprises,
which includes listed and unlisted companies.
As an industry we can be proud of these
achievements and I would like to thank all
involved for the work they continue to do.
There are, however,
still many goals to be achieved. According
to the outcomes of the baseline study undertaken
by the Tourism BEE Charter Council in 2006,
considerable challenges still exist when
it comes to small and medium sized enterprises,
which make up more than 90% of the sector.
Given the work that still has to be done
and the fact that we must strive to advance
further, I would like to reiterate the call
for all in the industry to play their part
to help us reach our transformation objectives.
We must not only strive to achieve this
as a responsible industry, but also because
it makes sense from a business and growth
perspective and will help secure the future
of the industry for all.
I thank you.
Enquiries: Ronel Bester
