Tourism Month is the celebration of people, places and
products.
With people at the heart of its brand, South Africa boasts a
wealth of diverse landscapes and cityscapes, populated with an array of tourism
products to suit every traveller's need.
Tourism Deputy Minister Fish Mahlalela addressed the South
African edition of World Tourism Day celebrations in Clarens in the Free State
province - host of this year's Tourism Month.
"Today we join and connect with the world as we mark
World Tourism Day and celebrate our resilience, recovery and as we forge ahead
towards a rejuvenated and inclusive tourism sector," Mahlalela said.
This global observance day by the United Nations World
Tourism Organisation aims to foster awareness of tourism's social, cultural,
political and economic value.
Celebrated under the theme: "Tourism for Inclusive
Growth," the celebrations aim to inspire and highlight the initiatives
that are poised to drive tourism recovery, in a "new and better
normal," post the pandemic.
Mahlalela said the Department of Tourism has been engaging
with the Acting High Commissioner of the United Kingdom.
"The Minister of Tourism, Lindiwe Sisulu, has requested
the Acting High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to urgently arrange a
meeting between her and the Minister of Transportation in the United Kingdom
who is leading the Task Force dealing with transportation and the restrictions.
"We, however, welcome Germany, the Unites States of
America, the United Arab Emirates and many other countries that have removed
restrictions against us," Mahlalela said.
Digital vaccination certificate
The Deputy Minister also indicated that Cabinet is
addressing concerns around the vaccination certificate including the digital
vaccination certificate.
"Government and social partners are engaging on the
form of this passport or certificate which should follow international trends.
This might simply mean a proof of vaccination in a format which is not easy to
forged or altered and will be developed specifically to integrate with
information of all official vaccinations and test types, including PCR and
rapid tests," Mahlalela said.
Tourism played a pivotal role in the broader South African
economy before the pandemic. It is a tertiary sector with strong linkages to
transportation, consumer retail, financial services and other network
industries.
"The COVID-19 pandemic might have brought us to our
knees, but it did not topple us. A pivotal economic lever, the tourism sector
has proved to be resilient and with the Tourism Sector Recovery Plan in place,
it promises to rebound," the Deputy Minister said.
Measures to strengthen quality of tourism
In addition to the tourism sector implementing COVID-19
protocols to protect tourists, government is also rolling out measures to
strengthen the quality of tourism offerings. This includes the Norms and
Standards approved by Cabinet which will be gazetted on 1 November 2021 in time
to prepare for the arrivals of the festive season visitors.
To support and ensure that the tourism sector is ready to
welcome back tourists in South Africa, Minister Sisulu will launch the tourism
sector vaccination programme in Gauteng on Thursday.
Mahlalela also announced strategic interventions to attract
tourists back to South Africa with the South African Tourism launching two global
campaigns soon namely a Global Advocacy Campaign and Global Brand Campaign.
The department is also re-evaluating the extent to which the
supply side of the tourism value chain has been affected by the pandemic.
To assist, the department is relaunching some of its support
mechanisms and funding initiatives including the Tourism Transformation Fund
and a Green Tourism Incentive Scheme.
Support local tourism
The Deputy Minister urged South Africans to support the
local tourism sector in its recovery.
"As we have said, certainly we will travel again soon,
whether it is to gather to host a small get-together with friends or celebrate
a party or a wedding. Let us all please book an event venue to support a local
restaurant or hospitality venue.
"The path to recovery is going to be laborious and
tedious, but will require the collective energy of every stakeholder.
"Therefore, as we build back better, we should do that
with a renewed social compact led by government, driven by the private sector,
and most importantly, such a recovery must be inclusive to find meaning for all
our communities," Mahlalela said.