Cape Town - Despite the realities presented by the economic slowdown, 2008 remained a buoyant year for the South African tourism industry, says Tourism Minister Marthinus Van Schalkwyk.
Speaking at the opening of the Local Government Tourism Indaba in Cape Town on Monday, the minister said the latest available figures for foreign arrivals, for the first ten months of 2008, showed a strong increase in arrivals of 5.4 percent from January to October.
"This follows an excellent growth rate of 8.3 percent in 2007, a year during which we exceeded nine million foreign arrivals to our country.
"As we examine the statistics for the first ten months of 2008, we have to note that we have begun to see some decreases in the month-on-month figures when comparing 2008 to 2007," the minister said.
Arrivals from North America remained stable compared to October 2007 and increases in arrivals from Australasia were 6.3 percent while the Middle East was 5.9 percent.
However, the industry had experienced decreases in arrivals of 6.5 percent from Europe and 4.6 percent from Central and South America.
"Our industry is by no means immune to the effects of the international economic crisis, but we are still confident that we will reach our target of 10 million visitors in 2010.
"Our country continues to be a value-for-money destination and with international events like the Confederations Cup and World Cup lined up, there will be opportunities in abundance and tourism will retain the important role it plays in our economic growth," the minister said.
The minister said a cohesive approach was needed to position South Africa better as a tourist destination, to proactively identify challenges and opportunities and to ensure that tourism continues to benefit the country on many levels.
"In order to ensure that we maximise the potential of our country and the vibrancy offered by its people, it is vital that all role-players in the industry share their skills, knowledge and talent. This includes forging partnerships between government at all levels," he said.
The minister said there were a number of challenges that were hampering an integrated and co-ordinated approach, including that most local authority staff do not have a collective approach to planning for tourism or destination management.
In some cases local government does not use national and provincial information for tourism planning.
He said the Local Government Tourism Indaba aimed to recognise and empower local government in terms of tourism management as well as ensure ongoing co-operation between the various spheres of government.
As part of reaching these goals, Minister Van Schalkwyk launched a draft Tourism Planning Toolkit for Local Government.
The intention of the toolkit is to clarify how to complete a basic tourism plan within a South African local municipality.
The toolkit also makes an important contribution towards advancing competence in tourism planning at a local level and the setting of minimum standards for such plans.
"We are extremely proud of the fact that the toolkit is a practical document," said Minister Van Schalkwyk.
It provides research and management systems to help with the obtaining of information, preparation of strategic tourism plans and assessment of their effectiveness.
The toolkit also assists local authorities in their strategic and financial planning as well as ensuring the appropriate investment in infrastructure and services for tourism.
It further assists with the development of community tourism plans and describes how relevant legislation can be used for sustainable tourism development.
"Our department remains committed to working with local government to ensure that the benefits of tourism are shared as widely as possible," the minister said.
