By REGINALD KANYANE
Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille said the sector is often overlooked as a key economic sector, yet it is a significant contributor and driver of economic growth and job creation. De Lille said as they commence the 7thadministration, their mission is to elevate the profile of tourism by supporting efforts to grow the sector and demonstrating this growth and the sector’s impact on the economy and communities.
She further said as articulated by President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Opening of Parliament Address, the cabinet has defined the three priority areas for government for the next 5 years. De Lille added that the cabinet will develop a Medium-Term Development Plan, which will translate these priorities into a detailed plan and interventions that the government will implement over the next five years.
“The Government of National Unity (GNU) has resolved to dedicate the next five years to actions that will advance three strategic priorities such as driving inclusive growth and job creation, reduce poverty and tackle the high cost of living and build a capable, ethical and developmental state.
“We have placed inclusive economic growth at the centre of the work of the GNU and at the top of the national agenda. Those are the three priorities for the government and all departments, entities and sectors must make a contribution to achieving these priorities within the next five years,” she said.
De Lille said her department is currently working on finalising their five-year plan, which will align to the GNU priorities, the National Development Plan(NDP), the Tourism Sector Master Plan and the National Tourism Sector Strategy. She said the NDP states that Tourism is one of the fastest growing economic sectors and there is an opportunity to increase employment in this sector.
“As part of our plan, our target will be to increase arrivals to 15 million by 2030, as stated in the NDP. We have just finalised a 2-day departmental Lekgotla together with SA Tourism, where we have made an assessment of where we are now.
“The next part of the plan is to map where we want to go and how we will get to the 15 million arrivals by 2030. We have an opportunity now to design the future of tourism for the next 5 to 10 years and it is not going to be business as usual.
“We have to drive urgency in the implementation of our plans for us to succeed in reaching our targets. These action plans will be implemented together with the private sector inclusive of the whole tourism value chain,” said de Lille.
The Guardian 