Bureau planned to push events tourism in SA

The government planned to encourage events tourism and to set up a national conventions bureau to ensure there was a co-ordinated approach to securing hosting rights for strategic international events, Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said yesterday.

The new thrust would link in with the need for SA to use its new stadiums after the World Cup.

Van Schalkwyk said SA had already secured 95 meetings and conferences between this year and 2016 and had “put in bids for an additional 45 meetings and conferences for 2011-2020”.

“Sport tourism in SA is estimated to contribute more than R6bn to our tourism industry. More than 10% of foreign tourists come to SA to watch or participate in sport events, with spectators accounting for 60%-80% of these arrivals,” he said in his budget vote speech in Parliament.

The Confederations Cup and British and Irish Lions rugby tour last year brought in about 52000 visitors and contributed about R669m in direct expenditure. More than 90% of the visitors indicated they would return to SA and recommend it to others.

SA outperformed world tourist trends last year with foreign arrivals rising 3,6% to more than 9,9- million compared with about 9,6- million in 2008. The total foreign direct spend grew 7% year on year to R79,4bn while tourism markets worldwide were in a slump.

However, the slow pace of economic recovery in SA’s key tourist markets of Britain and Europe posed risks to the local industry, which otherwise had reason to be cautiously optimistic about international tourism prospects.

The volatility of the international market — again highlighted by recent global incidents such as the H1N1 virus outbreak and the Icelandic volcanic eruption — required a greater focus on fostering domestic tourism.

This would be addressed in the government’s tourism sector strategy, which was being finalised by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and was due for release for public comment by the month-end.

“There is concurrence that new opportunities need to be explored and in this regard we will pursue the development of new niche products. The diversification of our product base is part of the strategy to ensure that our visitors stay longer and spend more,” Van Schalkwyk said.

Democratic Alliance tourism spokeswoman Marian Shinn criticised the department for focusing too much on controlling the tourism industry to achieve the goals of social transformation rather than acting as a facilitator to allow it to flourish.

She also slammed the 20% cut in the government’s contribution to SA Tourism’s budget this year, the beginning of a planned R160m reduction over three years.

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