Pretoria - Government will continue to take advantage of the tourism sector's potential as one of the biggest contributors to the country's economy, Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said on Tuesday.
"With the exceptionally successful hosting of the World Cup in South Africa, the tourism sector in South Africa is set to enter a new growth phase," he said at a breakfast hosted by the Tourism Enterprise Partnership (TEP) in Durban.
Van Schalkwyk said the World Cup offered South Africa an unprecedented window of opportunity to build its brand as a nation. The event was also a "catalyst" for important infrastructure development and the country could be proud of the excellent offering of accommodation, communication infrastructure, financial services and airports.
"It is up to all of us to make sure we leverage the platform it created," he said.
Tourism's total direct and indirect contribution to the economy has almost doubled from 4.9 percent in 1994 to 7.9 percent or R89.4 billion in 2009. South Africa recorded more than 9.9 million foreign arrivals last year.
Since its inception in July 2000, TEP has successfully facilitated transactions in excess of R4 billion. According to van Schalkwyk, these transactions have benefitted more than 5 600 enterprises, of which almost 70 percent were historically disadvantaged enterprises.
