Sex tourism conference to be held in Cape Town

AFRICAN Equations, a private sector tourism development company based in Cape Town, will be facilitating an international conference in the city between September 27 and 28 to address the tourism sex industry in South Africa. According to the company's co-owner, Silvana Dantu, the conference is two years in the making and has arisen from the fact that many clients and tourists request sex services from tour operators and tourism offices. "South Africa doesn't really have a position on sex tourism. Many tour operators and even society at large shy away from the issue. This conference will serve as a platform to debate the issue." Dantu says stakeholders from government, NGOs and the private sector will be airing their views. Some notable participants expected to attend include the WTO -World Tourism Organisation; Sweat - Sex Workers Education and Training, representatives from airlines Lufthansa, Air France and Virgin and Ecpat -End Child Prostitution, Pornography and Trafficking. Delegates from Holland and Sweden will discuss the impact of the decriminalisation of the sex industry in their countries, while sex industry destinations such as Thailand and the Philippines will discuss what measures have been taken to deal with the sex industry. Dantu says it's hoped the conference will deliver some kind of consensus on the way forward regarding the sex industry, and that Environment and Tourism Minister, Valli Moosa, will be able to present some kind of South African position when he attends a WTO meeting on the issue in December. The conference will be held at the Protea Presidents Hotel in Cape Town and is expected to draw between 150 to 200 delegates. For more information, please e-mail Silvana Dantu on: dantu@iafrica.com (Miguel de Sousa)