THERE is nothing firmly on the agenda, but somewhere down the line Richards Bay is set to get a massive conference centre similar to the ICC in Durban.
Speaking at the uMhlathuze Community Tourism Organisation (CTO) workshop held at the Civic Centre last week, this was one of many positive outlooks shared with attendees from across the tourism sector.
‘Tourism has been clearly identified by government as one of the country’s key drivers of job creation,’ said Mpumelelo Kheswa, Acting Senior Manager: Tourism Transformation with the KZN Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (DEDTEA).
‘Tourism is one of six key pillars of economic growth, along with infrastructure development, mining, agriculture, the green economy and manufacturing.
‘Important national and provincial targets have been set and all three tiers of government must join hands to meet these targets.
‘This is the first time a comprehensive and overarching long-term master plan for tourism has been developed and there is a need for KZN to align the National Tourism Sector Strategy with other policies such as the National Economic Growth Path and the Provincial Growth and Development Plan,’ said Kheswa.
‘The White Paper on the development and promotion of tourism in South Africa states that tourism is government-led, private sector-driven and community based.
‘To those three entities we must add the meaningful role that must be played by the media and labour,’ said Kheswa.
‘Growth, sustainability and spreading the benefits are key goals.
‘Tourism cuts across many conventional sectors, such as catering and accommodation, retail trade, transport, personal services and manufacturing of tourism-related products.
‘The reasons for developing tourism as a critical employment strategy are that it is labour intensive, it can promote rural development, it does not require massive infrastructure spend, it is an attractive sector for youth, and opportunities can be exploited through entrepreneurship.’
Kheswa said promoting ‘green principles’ in tourism was important, as were planning, partnerships and product development.
Government aims to increase the number of foreign visitors from a base of 1.2-billion in 2010 to over two billion in 2030, and to increase the tourism GDP from R22-billion to R65.2-billion.
