Tourism growth to take centre stage at conference

Thursday, March 30, 2017

Pretoria - The third Local Government Tourism Conference, which focuses on growing tourism, will kick off next week, Cabinet said on Thursday.

The conference, which will take place from 3 to 4 April 2017, at Emperors Palace, in Gauteng, will be held under the theme “Tourism planning is everybody’s business”.

“The conference will focus on growing tourism in the country by integrating it into all provincial and municipal growth and development strategies,” said Cabinet in a statement, following its regular fortnightly meeting.

At a workshop in Pretoria on Wednesday, Tourism Deputy Minister Tokozile Xasa said tourism was one of South Africa’s biggest success stories since the dawn of democracy and that it continues to grow and provide a livelihood for many households.

The sector currently supports about 1.5 million jobs directly and indirectly in South Africa. 

The Department of Tourism, in partnership with the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), South African Local Government Association (SALGA) and the City of Ekurhuleni will host the conference that begins on Monday.

Tourism Investment Summit

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the South African National Parks (SANParks) will host a Tourism Investment Summit.

The summit will focus on 55 new investment opportunities.

Over the past 15 years, SANParks has progressively increased the number of public-private partnership transactions.

These covered a wide range of projects, including accommodation, restaurants, retail, activities, Skukuza airport and the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway.

Presidential Local Government Summit

Still in April, President Jacob Zuma is set to convene the third Presidential Local Government Summit next Thursday to Friday (6 to 7 April 2017) under the theme ”Transforming Municipal Spaces for Radical Social and Economic Development”.

The Summit will focus on strengthening the local government system as part of the second phase of the Back to Basics programme. It will also address spatial injustice and spatial dislocation which continue to impact the lives of many.

“Other areas include: building resilient communities to avoid and reduce the impact of disasters; and forging whole-of government agreements to advance radical social and economic transformation at a local level.”

Cabinet said local government is everybody's business and it called on public and private stakeholders, civil society and the business community at large to rally behind the programmes aimed at supporting municipalities. – SAnews.gov.za