South Africa seeing unprecedented tourism growth
Reports from the Tourism Black Economic Empowerment Charter Council (TBEECC), in Johannesburg on Tuesday said that the South African tourism industry has seen unprecedented growth since 1994 and is ranked as an important sector for the country’s general economic growth.
Addressing the conference, Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister, Marthinus van Schalkwykm who was recently in Sydney said an estimated 3.6 million international tourists had visited the country since 1994 and in 2006, almost 8.4 million people visited South Africa.
Despite this growth, the minister said, a fact that could not be ignored was that the majority of the country’s population did not benefit from this “explosion of interest in the southern tip of Africa”, adding, “We are known as ‘The Rainbow Nation’ but very few people across the spectrum of the rainbow saw significant amounts of foreign spending pouring into their businesses.”
The Minister said it was for this reason that in July 2004, he announced the establishment of the Tourism Charter Steering Committee, with the committee tasked with developing a charter for the tourism industry and recommending the way forward for the South African tourism industry, as well as giving guidance on international best practice.
Mr van Schalkwyk said the reasons for the slow progress in transforming the industry were many, noting that larger entities had made the most significant strides in ownership, however, as one travelled down the tourism chain to large unlisted companies and down to small-end micro businesses, figures reflecting black ownership, co-ownership and even management declined significantly.
He added, “It is also a matter for concern that recent research undertaken by the TBEECC indicates that many large listed companies currently place ownership at the bottom of their importance list”.
In the six provinces measured, it was found that on average only 15.6% of 321 bed and breakfast operations were owned by black operators and of 90 hotels examined, only 4.4% were black owned or controlled, with according to a survey, black professional caterers comprising just over 1% of 23 establishments.
He further noted that building the tourism industry did not always mean handing over vast amounts of cash or having a highly paid black executive member on staff, adding, “It simply means extending a helping hand and identifying opportunities for community growth and participation”. “Central to achieving these goals is the tourism scorecard, a measurement tool to help participants identify their current levels of BEE, gaps in their profile, and how these could be improved.”
“Both the charter and scorecard apply to all privately owned enterprises within the tourism sector, as well as to organs of state, public entities, organised labour and communities.”
“They are also applicable to all parts of the sector regardless of the size of the enterprise, including sub-sectors such as accommodation, hospitality and related services.”
Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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