The South African government wants to see greater transformation in all areas of the local tourism industry, according to acting director-general of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Patrick Matlou.
Speaking to journalists at the annual Tourism Indaba in Durban on Sunday, government news service BuaNews reports that Matlou said transformation, in the areas of ownership, workplace equity and travel journalism, should take place from top to bottom, in order to reflect the diverse perspectives and demographics in the country.
The four-day conference, which lasts through to Tuesday, is being attended by over 1 000 delegates and more than 1 500 exhibitors. About 263 small, micro and medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs) are attending the event for the first time.
The Department’s director for quality assurance Joseph Raputsoe said his department had various programme plans to ensure inclusivity in the tourism sector. This included using the Tourism Grading Council and the Amathuba exchange programme to ensure the participation of the majority of South Africans in the sector.
The Tourism Grading Council, for instance, is set to assist in the improvement of the overall quality of the tourism industry.
Raputsoe added that the tourism training body, Sector Education Training Authority (Seta), planned to train 3 000 unemployed South Africans to equip them with hospitality industry skills.
Out of more than 4 000 tour guides listed in South Africa, only 976 are from previously disadvantaged population groups, he noted. Two years ago the figure was even less, but the Department was committed to ensuring equal representativity.
Meanwhile, Matlou said the Southern African Development Community (SADC) tourism protocol signed by countries to cooperate in order to enhance tourism in the region would impact positively on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad), as 75% of the tourists who visited South Africa last year came from Africa. – I-Net Bridge