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Tourism month opinion piece by Derek Hanekom, National Tourism Minister

Source: Tourism Update, 30/09/2015

September is a special month in South Africa: it`s Tourism Month and
it`s Heritage Month, giving people the opportunity to enjoy and
appreciate our rich natural and cultural heritage.

September is the month for all of us to experience the arts, theatre,
dance, music, outings to museums, national gardens and parks. In
doing all these things we are reminded of the amazing delights that
our country offers, and throughout the month people will be encouraged
to go out and enjoy them.

Travelling not only offers exciting new discoveries, new friendships
and life-changing experiences - it also leads to South Africans
becoming ambassadors and promoters of their own country. In our
travels we fall in love with our country's unparalleled beauty and
diversity, and we discover this fundamental truth: a million new
experiences are just a Sho`t Left away.

Tourism Month is also a time for all of us to join forces and work
together, in the interests of growing tourism, and expanding its
economic and social benefits.

This tourism month we commit ourselves to building collaborative
marketing platforms; prolonging the stay of international visitors;
getting a higher number of return visits, and growing the culture of
travel. Domestic tourism provides long-term growth and sustainability
of South Africa`s tourism industry as well as our economy.

Last year, tourism accounted for close to ten percent of all employed
people in South Africa. Domestic trips increased by 11 percent in 2014
to reach a total of 28 million. Revenue from domestic tourism alone in
2014 was R26.8 billion.

To reach our target of 18 million domestic tourists by 2020, we are
working hard to make tourism more affordable, more accessible and more
appealing to all South Africans.

This includes getting insights into what South Africans seek in a
leisure travel experience, and sharing these insights with the travel
industry.

Tourism has tremendous community development potential. Today`s
traveller is quite unlike the traveller of a few years ago. Today,
tourists want to interact with local communities, learn about their
culture and experience their lifestyle. They want to meet South
Africa, not merely visit South Africa.

In this way, tourism creates employment and entrepreneurship
opportunities right where people live: in their own communities.

Tourism builds the fabric of communities that would
otherwise be marginalised from the economy and all its
benefits.

International and domestic tourism are intertwined. The business
tourist arriving in Cape Town must be persuaded to spend a day or two
more in our country, enthralled at the prospect of visiting the
Mapungubwe World Heritage Site, or the Cradle of Humankind. The sport
tourist arriving at OR Tambo International to go to a rugby match must
be bombarded with information about the Marula Festival and the many
things to do and see that are just a Sho't Left away. The beach goer
arriving in Durban must find the prospect of buying the acclaimed
works of visual artists, textile weavers, beaders, potters and wood
carvers from the far north of our country irresistible.
This is how the tourist in Durban creates opportunities for crafters
in Thohoyandou.

South Africans have the enduring capacity to overcome obstacles,
wherever we find them. By working together, we can ensure that the
tourism industry continues to grow and thrive, and continues to
transform the lives of all South Africans.

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