Minister shares vision for tourism

Source: Tourism Update, 17/05/2017

Transformation and skills development will be key priorities for newly
appointed Minister of Tourism, Tokozile Xasa.


Xasa, who was Deputy Minister for about nine years, and Deputy Tourism
Minister, Elizabeth Thabethe, met with industry captains at a
breakfast on the sidelines of Indaba on Wednesday morning.


Speaking to Tourism Update after the engagement, Xasa said driving
transformation by bringing in new entrants was a key part of her
vision. “We need tourism to reach all corners within South Africa,”
she said, adding that people who had been excluded in the past regime
needed to be brought into the sector.


Xasa said the sector already had a platform to achieve radical
economic transformation and that this would be driven by programmes
and initiatives, not a change in policy. She used the example of the
Hidden Gems, showcased at Indaba through a partnership with SA Tourism
and Satsa. Xasa added that the department would seek to leverage South
Africa’s growth in new markets to bring new entrants into the
sector.


The Minister said it was important to grow the skills base in the
country, and that opportunities should be created, especially for the
youth and women. She added that while women held many positions within
the sector, more women needed to hold positions at executive
level.


Going forward, Xasa said that achieving transformation and skills
development were key to the sustainability of the sector.


She said she was also confident that, with the roll-out of the ‘I Do
Tourism’ campaign, the profile of tourism within the country would be
raised. She said that by recognising the contribution all South
Africans made to the tourism sector, South Africans would be
encouraged to do even more to support the industry.


While Xasa has not yet had a formal meeting with newly appointed
Minister of Home Affairs, Prof Hlengiwe Buhle Mkhize, she was
confident that the two departments would be able to work together to
improve the implementation of immigration regulations that had harmed
the tourism industry. She said that as a former ambassador, Mkhize was
passionate about tourism. She added that the Immigration Advisory
Board would be meeting next week and that progress was being made,
with industry input, regarding the implementation of immigration
regulations