New partnerships announced at Tourism Month launch

Said Van Schalkwyk: "By travelling at home, South Africans contribute meaningfully to the tourism industry and its competitiveness, as well as to local economic growth and job creation."

"Domestic and regional tourism is the backbone of a sustainable and robust tourism industry. In 2008, the total number of tourists in South Africa was 42.5 million, of which about 9.6 million were foreign arrivals. Domestic tourists accounted for 77% of all tourists in South Africa last year. Over the three year period from 2006 to 2008 domestic tourists accounted for, on average, 79.6% of all tourists in South Africa.

"By travelling at home, South Africans contribute meaningfully to the tourism industry and its competitiveness, as well as local economic growth and job creation. Domestic tourism is also less volatile than foreign arrivals and it offers the economy a steady and reliable income stream."

Tourism Month is celebrated annually in South Africa in September and during the month, the focus is placed on domestic travel experiences as well as the offerings in lesser visited provinces of the country.

"Tourism Month is one way we use to remind the nation of this country's superior status as an exciting holiday destination, to get more South Africans to travel in and around South Africa more often and to celebrate the enormous contribution that the tourism industry makes to national economic growth, to development and to job creation. Our very successful Sho't Left campaign focuses specifically on encouraging South Africans to explore their own country," Van Schalkwyk said.

"I am very pleased to announce today that based on the success of our previous partners such as Kulula.com, Thompsons Tours and Southern Sun, we have entered into a number of new partnerships with the private sector as part of our Sho't Left campaign. Our new partners - the Peermont Hotel group, Flight Centre and Computicket Travel - will help to make domestic travel exciting, accessible and affordable to more South Africans."

The minister also launched the roll-out of a Sho't Left billboard campaign, which is aimed at making a significant visual impact and creatively motivating South Africans to travel domestically. The ten billboards, worth more than R2 million, will be placed in Gauteng, as this is the province that is the greatest source market for domestic tourists.

"As you travel your own country, you learn more about its diversity and tourism offerings. You also help to improve service levels and the competitiveness of the industry as a whole. This in turn makes all of us better hosts for regional and foreign visitors. We are less than 300 days away from the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and now is the time for all of us to contribute in every way we can to make sure we offer the world an unmatched experience in our fantastic country," the minister said.

"Every South African has reason to be proud not only of the destination, but also of the industry," he continued. "We offer a beautiful, varied, capable and friendly holiday destination. Tourism contributes billions to our economy and the industry employs hundreds of thousands of people. As important, the industry exposes millions of people to the reality of a great nation, and gives them positive stories about South Africa to take back home with them to every country in the world."

Last year South Africa welcomed 9,591,828 foreign visitors. About 14 million adult South Africans undertook a trip in South Africa over the same period. These domestic tourists contributed R25.8 billion to the economy. In total, tourism has contributed R356 billion to the national economy since 2003.

"It is precisely because of the growing importance of tourism and its significant contribution to the South African economy that the Department of Tourism has embarked on a process to formulate a comprehensive tourism sector strategy for the country. This will be a first for the industry and the sector strategy will serve as a road map for the sector in the future," Van Schalkwyk said.

He noted that it had become clear to him during consultations with the industry that more engagement on the strategy was necessary. The timeframes for the finalisation of the strategy will therefore be extended and the department aims to have it ready by early next year.

South Africa is on the brink of one of the most significant global events in its history... the 2010 FIFA World Cup, said Didi Moyle, chief operating officer and acting chief executive officer at South African Tourism. The World Cup would draw about 450,000 fans to South Africa which would bring total number of visitors next year to 10 million.

"We have a rare opportunity over the next 12 months to show these millions of people just how friendly and welcoming we are. It's an opportunity to show our country off to the world, and to make our very best impression. We are all responsible for driving the 2010 legacy and for industry competitiveness long after the fans have left to go home."

South Africa's natural beauty and diversity were beyond dispute and had long since been acknowledged as significant traveller draw cards. However, it remained the responsibility of every citizen to develop a warm and enabling attitude towards visitors to establish South Africa as the most welcoming destination on earth, Moyle said.

"It simply means doing that little bit extra. It means greeting people, helping them with directions, making recommendations about good places to experience in your town or city. It also means experiencing South Africa as a tourist yourself, to get personal experience of our destination and to contribute constructively towards service levels and welcoming attitudes."

Each of the country's nine provinces holds special gems that will be profiled during Tourism Month and that richly reward trips away from home for domestic tourists, Van Schalkwyk said. Tourism Month gave the provinces a wonderful opportunity to show off their destination riches... and gave South Africans a good opportunity to experience those treasures.

Tourism Month culminates in a World Tourism Day celebration in Kimberley on 29 September. UNWTO's Tourism Day celebration theme this year is Tourism Celebrating Diversity. Events in Kimberley next month will hone in on South Africa's great and remarkable destination diversity and will celebrate the richness and texture of this destination whose stature has grown significantly in the last decade and whose global competitiveness is entrenched.