South African Minister of Tourism Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane’s message for the year ahead was clear: job creation is of utmost priority and tourism can be the catalyst to make it happen.
Speaking at the Tourism Month launch at Drakensberg Sun Resort, KwaZulu Natal, on August 23, Kubayi-Ngubane emphasised that tourism had the potential to boost South Africa’s economic growth and improve job creation, which requires an inclusive tourism sector.
“The creation of jobs and business opportunities is in line with South African Tourism’s ‘We Do Tourism’ movement, which aims to make tourism everyone’s business, as this industry intersects every area of our lives. It gets the whole country to rally behind the tourism industry, through demonstrating the far-reaching impact of the tourism value chain,” she said.
The theme for this year’s World Tourism Day is ‘Tourism and jobs – a better future for all’, which highlights the tourism sector’s vast capability to create jobs and therefore reduce the country’s unemployment rate.
In March this year, a World Travel & Tourism Council report stated that South Africa had the largest tourism economy in Africa, having indirectly contributed 1.5 million jobs (9.2% of South Africa’s employment) and R425.8bn (€25bn) in 2018. It also indicated that the sector accounted for 8.6% of the country’s GDP.
“To this end, the fundamental to achieving the 21 million [inbound arrivals by 2030] target is to firstly continue to work closely with the Department of Home Affairs on visa facilitation to increase access to our country by our tourists. Secondly, it is to work closely with the Minister of Police and our stakeholders in our sector to address the concerns of safety,” she said.
“Lastly, and most importantly, to develop and drive an aggressive marketing campaign for both domestic and international markets. This will involve target marketing to countries with potential for our international market and focused campaigns, for example, to millennials in a language they understand and by the people they can relate to,” added Minister Kubayi-Ngubane.
Tourism Month in line with inclusive growth
Tourism Month is celebrated in the same month that the UN World Tourism Organisation celebrates World Tourism Day, which falls on September 27 each year.
Tourism Month falls in line with South Africa’s vision to ignite inclusive economic growth, sustainable job creation and transformation, which are all critical for the industry.
It is part of the National Development Plan which recognises tourism as one of the main drivers of the economy. “Tourism Month aims to generate awareness of the enormous contribution that the tourism industry makes to provincial and national economic growth and job creation,” said Kubayi-Ngubane.
