Tourism Minister Tokozile Xasa will lead a South African delegation comprising of public and private sector tourism experts to attend the 41st Annual World Tourism Conference in Kigali, Rwanda.
The conference, which takes place from 28 to 31 August 2017, is expected to attract government leaders, international investors and travel professionals from the United States, Europe and Africa to explore how tourism can be utilised as an engine for economic growth and job creation.
Minister Xasa will also attend the inaugural Council of Tourism Ministers meeting scheduled for Monday, 28 August 2017.
This Council is chaired by Honourable Walter Mzembi, Minister of Tourism in the Republic of Zimbabwe, who is also the current Chairperson of the UNWTO Commission for Africa.
It will serve as a platform to discuss policies to support tourism, and also ways in which the sector can be leveraged to stimulate economic and social development on the continent.
The participation of the Minister and the South African delegation of tourism experts at the conference will provide several opportunities including strengthening tourism bilateral relations, establishing contacts with counterparts and creating awareness of South Africa as a tourism destination and attract investments.
The Minister will also visit Lilongwe, Malawi, for an official signing ceremony of the Malawi-South Africa Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of Tourism on 31 August 2017.
The objective of the MoU is aimed at strengthening regional cooperation and people to people relationship between the two countries and within the SADC region.
The MoU will focus on the following areas: Sharing of best practices, Human resource capacity building initiatives, Marketing and investment promotions in the field of tourism, heritage and cultural tourism, sustainable tourism development and travel facilitation. – SAnews.gov.za
