Board gives SA Tourism 'thumbs up'

THE overall message resulting from a recent retreat attended by members of the Board of South African Tourism (SAT) - and at which a number of key strategic decisions were taken - is that the state of tourism in South Africa continues to go "from strength to strength". This is a view supported by the continuing increase in foreign tourism arrivals, commented Board chairman, Rick Menell. This, he added, is in no small part due to the committed efforts of SAT. It has successfully pursued strict compliance with the rules of corporate governance following completed office consolidation that has allowed the tourism marketing organisation to 'play smarter' over the past 10 months. Menell further reported: "The Board is delighted that the strategic organisational changes that have taken place during 2002 have ensured that South African Tourism has become empowered and solidly equipped to move forward strongly in a highly competitive global market." SAT, said Menell, was in the final stages of gearing up to aggressively tackle the issue of improved seasonality in a number of its key markets. It is on the brink of unrolling a number of campaigns in the UK, US and India that will focus on attracting added tourist volumes and increased geographic spread during South Africa's traditional low season. (Miguel de Sousa)