An agreement with Google to literally put South Africa’s small towns on the map, a special Home affairs portal to make it easier for Chinese tourists to visit South Africa and grants of up to R1 million for tourism establishments to fit solar power systems were some of the new initiatives explained by tourism minister Patricia de Lille during her recent visit to Makhanda.
Tour operators, representatives from game reserves, homestay owners and others took advantage of the opportunity to engage with De Lille at a meeting in the Makhanda City Hall to look at ways to promote rural and township tourism development.
Organised by the Masifundise Community Family Care and Development Centre (NPC), it was attended by the South African Township and Villages Tourism Organisation (SATOVITO), the National Arts Festival, Shamwari Game Reserve, Amakhala Game Reserve and Crown River Safari among others.
Shamwari CEO Joe Cloete highlighted the fragmented marketing of South African tourism destinations.
“The way the Eastern Cape is not united in its marketing efforts is an opportunity,” Cloete said.
He asked the group to imagine a ”Frontier Reserves & Routes Passport”, for example.
“There is so much diversity in the Eastern Cape,” Cloete said. “No other province can touch this province when it comes to the range of what we have to offer. You must create safe products in whatever community you are operating.”
De Lille said rural areas are South Africa’s hidden gem. “Our challenge is to move the focus from the big cities to those areas, because that’s where the people are. We know South Africa is a world renowned tourist destination, but our biggest asset is our people.
De Lille acknowledged that her travels to and through small towns had allowed her to see how badly many of them are deteriorating. A strong tourism economy in those towns could play a catalytic role in rebuilding them.
“That is where my heart is,” De Lille said. “In those hidden gems.”
She agreed with Mackenzie’s observation that fragmentation of marketing was doing no one any favours.
“We need to be creating messages that cut across the whole value chain of tourism.”
But with a budget of a mere R1 million to market the entire country, it was clear that marketing could not be left in the hands of the government.
“Don’t leave everything to the government: they will mess it up!”
Small Town South Africa founder Ron Mackenzie supported De Lille’s assessment of what local tourism needs.
“Look to the person in the mirror to move tourism and South Africa forward,” Mackenzie said. “There is so much good news. South Africa has beautiful scenery and beautiful people: we must stop counting on a saviour, focus on what we can do and get on with it.”
Small Town South Africa is a popular Facebook group that celebrates out of the way corners of the country and encourages local travel.
Noting that South Africa had 2.4 million visitors from January to the end of March this year, De Lille said, “The questions is how can we use that growth so more people can benefit.”
Joza homestay owner Vuyelwa Mtimkulu recalled the Kwam eMakana homestay programme that Nosimo Balindlela had established during her term as Eastern Cape premier.
“Please,Minister, can you help to revive that,” she asked.
Kwam eMakana chairperson Buyiswa Gora said, “When there is an event in Makhanda, the organisers send tourists to Port Alfred and Kenton-on-Sea, and our homes stay empty.”
Gora asked for Tourism to provide homestay owners with solar power and water tanks, to help make their homes more comfortable for visitors.
Makhanda based accredited tour guide Otto Ntshebe said black tour operators like himself were denied access to the cruise liners that dock in Gqeberha.
De Lille said she would look into both concerns.
Crown Safari owner Hennie le Roux spoke about the massive interest in the province from Chinese tourists and asked for De Lille to intervene in making the process of applying for visas simpler.
De Lille said funds had been set aside from the Department of Tourism to assist the Department of Home Affairs in setting up a portal to deal exclusively with Chinese tourists.
De Lille is the leader of the GOOD party that states its mission to be working for spatial, social, economic and environmental justice. Speaking of Makhanda’s long-running water crisis – a functional obstacle to growing tourism in the town – De Lille referred to the alleged mismanagement that has prevented the town’s water treatment capacity being upgraded, De Lille said, “Corruption steals directly from poor people. It’s up to us as South Africans to stop corruption and protect whistleblowers.”
De Lille touched on the department’s special programmes: Market Access Support Programme, the Green Tourism Incentive Programme and the Tourism Equity Fund
She said Statistics South Africa’s figures for January to March 2024 pointed to a robust and growing South African tourism sector.
International tourist arrivals from January to March 2024 had totalled 2.4 million, representing a 15.4% increase compared with the same period in 2023, De Lille said.
In 2023, South Africa had welcomed more than 8,5million tourists from across the world with 6.4million of those arrivals from the rest of the African continent. South Africa welcomed 1.8 million tourist arrivals from the rest of the African continent between January and March 2024, making a significant 74.5% of all arrivals.
De Lille touched on the Tourism Sector Master plan approved by Cabinet in September last year. This had been a collaborative effort between the government and the private sector. It included a road map for the tourism sector’s ‘full recovery’ from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic –by facilitating new opportunities in the sector.
In 2023, the department relaunched the R1.2 billion Tourism Equity Fund to support the growth of emerging tourism enterprises.
The Tourism Sector Master Plan includes the following key focus areas:
- Stimulating Demand through exciting tourism products
- Enhancing Education and Skills Development;
- Promoting Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth;
- Improving Infrastructure and Connectivity;
- Fostering Social Cohesion and Well-being and Promoting Regional Cooperation.
- This article was first published in Talk of the Town, 23 May 2024. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
