South Africa targets massive tourism 2020 growth paradigm shift

225,000 new jobs: $75bn revenue: 15m international tourists: 18m domestic tourists: government standards for responsible tourism

South Africa has launched a massive and cohesive strategy for tourism growth in the next ten years.

In a major speech to the South African parliament, Tourism Minister Martinus van Schalkwyk announced South Africa Tourism’s plan for growth, the utilization of tourism as a method of stimulating economic development, and tough standards for green tourism to enhance the reliability of brand South Africa.

He said “We aim to increase the number of foreign tourist arrivals to South Africa from 7 million in 2009 to 15 million by 2020, tourism’s total contribution to the economy from R189 billion in 2009 to R499 billion by 2020, the number of domestic tourists from 14.6 million in 2009 to 18 million by 2020 and to create 225 000 new jobs by 2020.”

South Africa’s strategy includes:

• Focus on the BRIC markets without forgetting about North America and Europe
• Using regional and domestic markets and tourism product mixes as hedges against high fuel prices affecting long haul markets
• Focus on MICE – National Convention Bureau to be established
• New growth by accessing markets unlocked by the World Cup
• Tourism bill to be enacted in parliament
• Focus on air access and liberalization of air space to generate business (already South Africa has moved from 20 inbound carriers to 50. With non-stop New York service, direct China services  and direct Paris-Cape Town service planned for 2011
• Use of tourism as an economic development mechanism, in particular for SMEs and SMMEs with 530 small organizations supported this year
• Use of tourism for social inclusion with a fund of 235m Rand to fund tourism projects. Social Responsibility Implementation (SRI) programme and the Tourism Enterprise Partnership (TEP).
• Transfer of wealth to poor and rural communities by ensuring ownership of assets and the facilitation of skills development.

As far as ‘Green Tourism’ is concerned Mr van Schalkwyk said:

“We realise that green growth in tourism is not a nice to have, but a must-have. I am convinced that a collaborative effort will help us to close the space that exists for green-washing and remove the confusion about what is credible and what not. Together we can move tourism’s green and social conscience from being a hyped concept to inspiring a paradigm shift.”

“Like other economic sectors, our sector must mitigate climate change by reducing its growing carbon footprint ? and we must do so in a measurable, reportable and verifiable manner.”

He went on to outline a vision for new green jobs, green entrepreneurs and green investment. “A green revolution in the tourism sector could also be a catalyst for green growth in the broader economy, given its labour intensity and the multiplier effect that cascades through the entire economy.”

“Carbon offsetting is not enough” He said “We need to fundamentally change the way the tourism sector operates in a carbon constrained world.”

And in announcing a new certification process: “In terms of responsible and low carbon tourism, I am concerned about the lack of harmonisation of accreditation, certification and labelling in our industry.”

“There are some very admirable private sector and civil society driven efforts that have created systems of integrity. But these are in silos, and should find broader application.”

“This regulatory vacuum in terms of the tourism sector does not properly reward those in the industry that do play leadership roles by investing in low carbon, ethical, clean and green tourism transformation.”

“If a facility states that it is carbon neutral or committed to responsible tourism, we need to know that they apply a minimum standard that we can trust, and that our visitors can trust. It is about the integrity and reliability of destination South Africa.”

“We will therefore publish the National Minimum Standard for Responsible Tourism in the current financial year. These standards will deal with various dimensions of green and responsible tourism including biodiversity conservation, energy consumption and water use, proper waste management and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. I trust it will establish the much needed minimum criteria for responsible tourism and a transparent national accreditation process for sustainable tourism certification.”

Download full speech at: www.info.gov.za/speech/DynamicAction

Budget vote speech of Department of Tourism, delivered by Mr Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of Tourism, Parliament, Cape Town 20 Apr 2011

Cape Town Tourism has hailed the content of Minister of Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk’s, tourism budget speech, which was released at a media briefing on 20th April 2011.

"Minister van Schalkwyk reported on three themes that the South African tourism industry would pursue over the next financial year; new growth, shared growth and green growth."

Said Cape Town Tourism CEO, Mariette du Toit-Helmbold; “Growth in tourism is both tangible and necessary. We applaud the Minister’s proactive approach to the task of growing tourism in a way that is sustainable and shared. The continued support of projects such as the Tourism Enterprises Partnership and the Social Responsibility Implementation Programme is important to ensuring that we see results.”

"In summary, Minister Van Schalkwyk is driving the growth of tourism around three key areas of responsibility:

"New Growth: The recently signed (2 March 2011) National Tourism Sector Strategy commits itself to intelligent planning and policy formulation in order to drive the tourism economy, enhance the visitors experience and ensure sustainability and good governance in the industry."

"Projected tourism figures include increasing the number of annual foreign tourist arrivals to South Africa from seven million in 2009 to fifteen million by 2020, the number of annual domestic tourists to South Africa from 14.6 million in 2009 to eighteen million in 2020, and creating 225 000 new jobs by 2020. Government aims to do this by tapping into new growth markets unlocked by the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, as well as by maintaining the current traditional source markets. "

"Shared Growth: Minister van Schalkwyk continued to say that the tourism sector is not only a multi-faceted industry that contributes to economic growth but also a labour intensive industry with a significant capacity for creating jobs, specifically in rural areas amongst women and the youth. There is also a great capacity for entrepreneurs and small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs)."

"Green Growth: The Budget Vote Speech stated that the entire tourism value chain would have to contribute to South Africa’s Copenhagen commitments on climate change. The sector must alleviate climate change by reducing its growing carbon footprint in a measurable, reportable and verifiable manner. Further to this, we need to change the way the tourism sector operates in a carbon constrained world, carbon offsetting alone is not enough. Minister for Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk said a green revolution in the tourism sector could be a catalyst for green growth in the broader economy and that the tourism industry would be publishing a National Minimum Standard for Responsible Tourism in the current financial year, where standards would be created to deal with green and responsible tourism including biodiversity conservation, energy consumption and water use, proper waste management and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. It is hoped that these measures will assist in the control of greenwashing and give proper due to green tourism leadership."

She continued: “We at Cape Town Tourism have aligned our strategy with these themes for some time now. It is heartening to now feel the support and unity of a national direction for tourism growth and the ongoing role it has to play in driving employment. The City of Cape Town has been a pioneer in responsible tourism for many years and we feel sure that the self regulation and willingness of tourism players to engage in sustainable, responsible growth can now be actualised with the backing of legislation and high level commitment. We welcome the chance to engage with other tourism entities in upholding the pillars of a future-fit destination.”

Commented Professor Geoffrey Lipman: “There are those who will say that 2020 targets set by South Africa for international and domestic growth in Turism numbers and revenues are unrealistic.  On the contrary I believe they are relatively moderate estimates for a country whose dynamic modernization and integration into the BRICS club demonstrates a fast track socio- economic mindset and performance.”

“Nothing epitomizes this more than the incredibly succesful and well managed FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup, which also provided a renewed infrastucture base, human resource retraining and fantastic global brand positioning.”

“On top of this South Africa has played an active role in actions to respond to climate change and I fully expect their strong tourism projections will be matched by even stronger initiatives to decarbonise the sector’s expansion and to place tourism in the leadership role in transformation to a Green economy”

Valere Tjolle
Valere Tjolle is the editor of the Sustainable Tourism Report Suite latest special offer HERE