The number of foreign tourists visiting South Africa has grown by 10% ahead of Tourism Month in September, Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said on Tuesday.
”South Africa is following the global trend with a rise in travel and tourism to our country. Overall foreign arrivals grew by 10% from January to May 2007,” he said.
The 10% growth was due to air travel. Tourists from the United States, Canada, Brazil and France accounted for most of the growth.
”The increase comes from arrivals from all the regions of the world, in particular air markets.
”This reflects the growing awareness of South Africa as a tourism destination.”
Van Schalkwyk, who was speaking at the launch of Tourism Month at the Nelson Mandela Museum at Qunu in the Eastern Cape, said although foreign tourists were important, local tourists were just as important.
”Domestic travel increased by 2,7% in 2006 as 37-million domestic trips were undertaken,” he said.
During 2006 most domestic trips were to Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
”One of the challenges in growing the domestic market is making it a lifestyle choice so that it is not just driven by the purpose of visiting friends or family.”
Van Schalkwyk said there was an increase in job creation in the industry.
”Tourism’s contribution to job creation in 2006 amounted to 947 530 jobs. This was an increase of 9,6% over 2005.”
The minister also highlighted problems facing the industry ahead of World Tourism Day on September 27.
”The limited availability of qualified and experienced black management and, to a lesser extent, the ability of South Africans to deal with non-African language speaking tourists are viewed as important scarcities,” he said.
He said that in order to address some of these problems, tour guides had been sent to other parts of the world for training.
Van Schalkwyk said the ”diverse tourism experiences offered by the country’s nine provinces” would be showcased in September.
The department’s spokesperson, Mava Scott, said that several activities would be conducted to mark Tourism Month.
”There will be activities happening around the country to mark Tourism Month; this will include a conference that will be held at the end of September,” said Scott. — Sapa