Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk spelt out ambitious targets in Parliament on Wednesday, including doubling the number of foreign tourists to this country over an 11-year period.
Van Schalkwyk, who was presenting his department’s budget, said it and the entire tourism industry had taken great strides in repositioning tourism and putting the necessary policy framework in place to ensure new and shared growth.
“We aim to increase the number of foreign tourist arrivals to South Africa from 7 million in 2009 to 15m by 2020, tourism’s total contribution to the economy from R189 billion in 2009 to R499bn by 2020, the number of domestic tourists from 14.6m in 2009 to 18m by 2020, and to create 225 000 new jobs by 2020.”
Van Schalkwyk said an ambitious tourism sector strategy, representing a commitment to intelligent planning and policy formulation, had been approved by the cabinet on March 2. The strategy focused on driving the tourism economy, enhancing visitor experiences, and ensuring sustainability and good governance in the industry.
He said that while the traditional tourism markets in North America and Europe would remain important, particularly in terms of arrivals and spending, the department would aggressively pursue long-term growth opportunities in, among others, China, India, South America and on the African continent.
“In terms of hedging against risks such as economic downturns, higher oil prices and currency volatility, we are carefully rebalancing our portfolio. This includes the mix of international, regional and domestic tourists, the spread between high-value and middle-value markets, and the blend of leisure, business and events tourism.”
Van Schalkwyk said one important component of this approach was the increased focus on meetings, incentive trips, conferences and events.
To better streamline and align its efforts, the department had also undertaken a review of current tourism legislation and would be tabling a tourism bill in Parliament before the end of the financial year.
Van Schalkwyk said the Tourism Act of 1993 predated democracy and would not facilitate the growth the department had in mind.
The DA’s Greg Krumbock said that when comparing tourist arrivals growth for last year, 2010, with those for 2009, it was appropriate to also compare that growth to international trends. “At first blush, the comparison is (satisfactory).”
Krumbock said tourist arrivals in 2010 grew by nearly 1 062 000, a 15.1 percent increase on 2009. - Pretoria News