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TOURISM
ENRICHES
Record High as
South Africa Celebrates World Tourism Day
2006
Writes
Edwin Sipho Rihlamvu
 "Once
again South Africa has emerged as a star
performer in the world tourism arena. Even
though the Soccer World Cup is four years
away, we are already seeing benefits from
our elevated international profile. This
is reflected in our first quarter tourism
performance for 2006" said the ecstatic
Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of
Environmental Affairs and Tourism, at a
cultural event to embrace the 24th World
Tourism Day. The celebration was held at
Emaweni Resort in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga on
Wednesday, 27 September 2006 and was
attended by senior members of the
Department of Environmental Affairs and
Tourism, South African Tourism, and
partners from the tourism
industry.
As the
twenty-fourth World Tourism Day was
celebrated, hosted by Algeria, South
Africa was enjoying a particular niche,
for the country had tangible proof to show
what impact tourism does have on its
economic outlook. Not so long ago the
Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative of
South Africa (ASGISA) identified tourism
as one of the key catalysts to the
realization of the country's 6% economic
growth by 2014. Given the trends that are
currently obtaining, it does appear that
tourism would surpass that expectation by
a very large margin or at most reach that
target soonest.
To
confirm this assertion, the Minister said:
"With just over 2.7 million arrivals from
January to April, this is the first time
we have broken through the 2.5 million
mark in the first four months of the year.
This figure compares very favourably with
our first quarter arrivals of 1998, which
stood at just over 1.8 million. We have
seen a 16% increase in arrivals across all
territories compared to the same period
last year, which translates into almost
377 000 more visitors".
In
order to sustain this growth and
contribute to the goals of ASGISA, the
Minister recognized the importance of
continuous investment in skills, and in
that regard announced that a comprehensive
tourism skills audit is underway. The
objective of this undertaking is to
"ensure that the industry does not run
into capacity constraints, by improving
the alignment between the skills generated
by tertiary institutions and those most
needed by industry".
However,
this good news is not only confined to
South Africa but indeed a recent African
phenomenon. According to the UNWTO, Africa
has been one of the strongest growth
markets, with most destinations showing
consistently above average increases in
arrivals and receipts. Between 2000 and
2005, international tourist arrivals to
Africa increased from 28 million to 40
million - an average growth of 5.6 % a
year, compared to a worldwide 3.1 % a
year. In the same period Africa's
International tourism receipts doubled
from US$ 10.5 billion to US$ 21.3
billion.
UNWTO
Secretary General Francesco Frangialli
recently said "This surge in African
tourism clearly shows the great potential
of our sector of the economy to help trade
and development in the region…...
Africa can have substantial comparative
advantage with its wildlife, nature,
heritage and climate. An advantage which
could, if nurtured, allow the world's
poorest countries to compete in this
dynamic export sector"
South
African Tourism CEO Moeketsi Mosola said:
"The continued growth in arrivals to South
Africa is hugely encouraging and highly
commendable. It is a clear reflection of
the industry's hard work and the dedicated
partnerships between tourism authorities
and the tourism trade".
Meanwhile,
a recent study has shown that while most
tourists' head for South Africa's beaches
and safari parks, many African visitors
forego the natural wonders for shopping
malls. The majority of this market hails
from Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana,
Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and
Malawi injecting $20-billion
(R2,8-billion) per year into the local
economy.
Spinning
the crystal ball for 2006, the Minister
Van Schalkwyk predicted "Our first quarter
figures indicate that we are well on
target to surpass last years record
tourism arrival figure of 7.3 million".
Indeed, Tourism Enriches.
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