Huge tourism potential for SADC
Themba Gadebe
26 October 2005
International audit firm Grant Thornton says the southern African region has "enormous" potential to become a must-see tourism destination, if governments and the private sector are committed to building the industry.
The firm's report comes out of research commissioned by the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to assess tourism growth in the region.
Released at the two-day SADC tourism Investment Promotion Conference in Johannesburg on Tuesday, the report says the outlook for the South African economy and tourism sector remains positive.
This is despite challenges facing the industry, identified by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, such as inadequate funding and delays in acquiring investment licences.
"There is inadequate tourism education, training and awareness for the general public, and a lack of protection for the environment," a
department spokesperson said.
Limited availability of local suppliers for the tourism industry and insufficient air capacity to handle demands in peak seasons have also been identified as threats to South African tourism.
However, the Grant Thornton report reveals that all tourism industry representatives interviewed are positive about the industry in South Africa, and are aware of the government's identification of tourism as a priority.
Industry representatives are confident that tourism can help create jobs, entrepreneurial opportunities and rural development, and improve environmental management.
Potential and growth
The report was particularly upbeat about the region's tourism potential. Grant Thompson spokesperson Gillian Saunders said the possibilities for growth in the industry were "enormous", although levels of development within the SADC region were uneven.
"The size of the industry, its relative importance,
its stage of development differs from one country to another," she said. This, she said, would determine the type of investment promotion appropriate to a particular country.
She said South Africa and Mauritius had advanced tourism sectors, contributing 2.9% and 4.2% to gross domestic product growth respectively.
Botswana and Namibia are "still maturing", Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania and Madagascar are emerging countries in terms of tourism growth, while Zimbabwe has regressed. Saunders added that the tourism potential of Lesotho and Swaziland "are now promising".
Nepad has made tourism a priority sector with the potential to diversify economic opportunities and generate income and foreign exchange earnings for African countries. This is in line with the African Union and Nepad tourism action plan, adopted at the union's third general assembly in Ethiopia in July 2004.
Source: BuaNews
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