Pretoria - Tourism Minister Marthinus Van Schalkwyk says government is willing to invest in a partnership with the private sector to develop holiday resorts for modest income earners.
Addressing media at the launch of the department's National Tourism Sector Strategy (NTSS) in Johannesburg on Friday, Van Schalkwyk said while no definite steps had been taken with regards to this initiative, it was an idea he wanted to discuss with unions.
"We want to convince them [unions] that workers can also become tourists in this country and not just travel for work purposes," he said.
The minister emphasised that these resorts would not be government run or owned.
"We are willing to come to the table and provide some of the funding and expertise but it must be privately run resorts," he added.
The resorts were just one of the ways through which the department was aiming to attract more domestic and international tourists.
The draft NTSS which was approved by Cabinet earlier this week, outlines the department's targets for the next five years.
"I believe this strategy, which is the result of a collective industry-wide effort, places South African tourism firmly on a new and ambitious growth trajectory for the future. We recognise the vital role tourism must play in growing the economy and creating jobs," he said.
The objectives for the department as set out in the NTSS is to: grow the tourism sector's contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) by more than average GDP growth: achieve transformation within the tourism sector: provide excellent people development and decent work; entrench a culture of travel among South Africans and deliver a world class visitor experience.
Targets set out in the NTSS are to increase the number of jobs supported by the tourism sector by 500 000 and to grow tourism's contribution to the GDP from an estimated R173.9-billion in 2009 to R338.2-billion by 2015.
South Africa saw an increase is the number of foreign visitors to the country last year, despite the recession, and the department says it is determined to see that trend continue.
While 9.9-million foreigners visited the country in 2009, the department hopes to increase that figure to 13.5-million by 2015.
The NTSS will be gazetted in the Government Gazette next week after which the public will have 60 days to comment on it
