Question NW4102 to the Minister of Tourism

Reply:

The Tourism Sector Masterplan which was approved by Cabinet in October 2023 was derived from, among others, the three-year Tourism Sector Recovery Plan (TSRP), approved by the Cabinet in April 2021.

The plan primarily aims to galvanise government, industry, and labour to collectively share a common vision that will position the tourism industry on an inclusive and sustainable competitive path for the benefit of all South Africans.

The Masterplan is anchored on three interlinked pillars or strategic themes:

• Protect and Rejuvenating Supply;
• Re-ignite Demand;
• Strengthen Enabling Capability for long-term sustainability.

Within these pillars, there are seven Strategic Interventions that address key areas of focus.

These interventions include enhancing education and skills development, promoting entrepreneurship and economic growth, improving infrastructure and connectivity, fostering social cohesion and well-being, preserving the environment and natural resources, strengthening governance and institutions, and promoting regional cooperation.

Additionally, there are three enablers that support the implementation of the plan, namely, to form targeted, strategic partnerships between government and industry; partnering with relevant departments to ensure improved travel facilitation through the implementation of e-visas, tourist safety, airlift capacity and quicker turnaround times in the processing of tour operator licences; and stimulate domestic demand through Government Consumption expenditure.

The plan indicates that South African Tourism is the lead partner in destination marketing of South Africa as a key destination and the entity will continue leading in the stimulation of demand in collaboration with the industry and provinces through the following programmes:

• Targeted domestic initiatives and campaigns through domestic tourism seasonal campaigns.
• Domestic business events and B2B campaigns.
• Regional tourism campaigns to increase the number of tourists from the continent/region.
• A global marketing campaign targeted at high-value source markets.
• A global business events campaign to drive an increase in the number of events and business events hosted in SA.
• Drive the number of international bid submissions.
• Facilitation through the National Association Project to host Business events in VTSDs.
• Drive the growth in the number of quality-assured establishments.  
• Confirming and implementing the brand management protocol.