THE 7th Annual National Tourism Conference, hosted by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT), was held yesterday in Johannesburg where captains of industry were present to discuss the challenge of below par service in the tourism industry.
Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, spoke at the conference and highlighted the achievements South Africa has made since the dawn of the new democracy in terms of tourism. “Our outstanding performance in terms of attracting visitors to our shores is underscored by the fact that tourism continues to make a growing contribution to our economy. The contribution of tourism to South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to have increased from R137,6 billion in 2006 to R159,6 billion in 2007. The number of jobs created directly and indirectly in the economy through tourism increased by 5% from 896,900 in 2006 to 941,000 in 2007.”
Van Schalkwyk also noted the various challenges that were being addressed in the tourism field including airlift. “In terms of the progress made with the implementation of our Airlift Strategy, a planning committee was set up to oversee the implementation of the strategy and prepare for the Bilateral Air Service Negotiations. Fourteen mandates were approved for 2008, which resulted in various frequency increases.”
Among these include operations from major source markets such as the UK and France and flights from the emerging markets such as Brazil and India.
Baleka Mbete, Deputy President of South Africa, also pointed out the need for a partnership between the public and private sectors to work towards service excellence, adding that 2010 was the ideal chance for South Africa to showcase itself. “South Africa has a solid aviation infrastructure and skills development has been prioritised, but we need to pay attention to the issue of service excellence.”
Mbete went further to say that South Africa as a whole lacked a service ethos that is a problem resulting from bad attitude, mindset and possibly culture.
Ceo of South African Tourism, Moeketsi Mosola, was also in attendance at the conference and noted that the tourism sector is leading in terms of growth by sector in the country but the industry must admit that there is a problem with service. He didn’t deny that there were “pockets of excellence” spread across the country, but that the industry needs a proper and honest discussion about what needs to be done.
