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| Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille, right, and Director of Google South Africa Alistair Mokoena sign a collaborative agreement on promoting safe tourism, Monday, 13 November 2023. |
Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille and Google South Africa
Country Director Prof Alistair Mokoena signed a cooperation agreement in
Parliament on Monday with the aim of promoting South Africa as a safe travel
destination.
This follows incidents of stone throwing and attacks on
motorists on and near the N2 in recent months.
On November 3, a 55-year-old tourist from Connecticut in the
United States was shot in the face and robbed shortly after leaving Cape Town
International Airport. A navigation app on his phone reportedly indicated that
the most direct route to Cape Town was via Nyanga township, News24 reported.
At the signing of the agreement on Monday, Mokoena said
Google had been in touch with city officials and identified crime hotspots.
These included Nyanga and the airport intersection, which Google would soon no
longer recommend as the fastest route into the city.
Speak with Daily Maverick In Parliament, Mokoena said Google
considers the safety of drivers and commuters a priority.
“Google is a tool that connects you to your destination as
quickly and safely as possible. When it comes to recommending routes, we look
at the quickest way to get from point A to point B. We pay attention to the
condition of the road, the quality of the road – and also safety,” he told
Mokoena.
Mokoena said: “The first area [of] The focus will be on
Nyanga as we have had some incidents there and seen an increase in violent
crime.
“We want to make sure we don’t have something like that
[thing] recurring. Recommendations to exclude the Nyanga area route from the
airport junction as the fastest route have not yet come into effect…
“We are working with all key players, including car rental
companies, to ensure that everyone is warned and everyone is given information,
because once you have information you are able to make informed decisions.”
“We come in from a technical perspective, but the city is
putting up signage… There will be a marketing and communications campaign to
make people aware of dangers and ensure we have a great tourism experience,”
Mokoena said.
“It’s nothing new”
De Lille confirmed that the tourism department had developed
a solution with Google.
“For me, when it comes to using technology, it started back
in 2014 when the city of Cape Town became the most desirable city in the world.
“The first thing we did was design an open data portal,
which was also a first for the city. I have ensured that we overlay digital
technology into all of our decisions at every level and in every department in
the city. That’s when I realized how valuable it is and how easy it is.
De Lille added: “This is nothing new for me. I think it is
mandatory for the government to use technology. I was just at the World Travel
Market in London where they were talking about artificial intelligence and how
the tourism sector is using AI.
“The quicker we can adopt the technology, the better it will be for the sector,” she said.