South Africa to Host Global
Environment Facility’s (GEF) Fourth Biennial
International Waters Conference in Cape
Town
25 July 2007 - Media Statement - 350 Delegates
From Over 100 Countries Expected to Attend
- WEDNESDAY, 25 JULY 2007: South Africa
will be hosting the Global Environment Facility’s
(GEF’s) Fourth Biennial International Waters
Conference from the 31st July - 03rd August
2007 at the Cape Town International Convention
Centre in Cape Town, South Africa.
The primary objective of the conference
is to foster knowledge sharing and collaboration
between participating governments, GEF funded
projects and agencies, and private and non-profit
sectors. The conference further seeks to
highlight crucial international waters challenges,
celebrating achievements, highlighting successful
scientific and technical tools and financing
international waters partnerships.
International waters is one of the GEF
focal areas and targets marine ecosystems
bounded by more than one nation, transboundary
water systems such as river basins with
water flowing from one country to another
and groundwater resources shared by several
countries. Through its international waters
projects it provides support to countries
to strengthen transboundary collaboration
in addressing key transboundary concerns
such as water pollution, protection of fisheries
habitats and unsustainable exploitation
of fisheries.
One of the successful transboundary marine
programmes in the SADC region is the Benguella
Current Large Marine Ecosystems (BCLME)
programme which is aimed at facilitating
transboundary cooperation in the management
of shared fish stocks, marine pollution
and coordination of regional efforts to
mitigate impacts of marine mining and oils
and gas production on the environment.
The conference is further expected to set
a platform to share and highlight the role
of marine and coastal resources in contributing
towards tackling socio- economic challenges
in developing countries.
Other key GEF funded waters projects in
the region are:
Toward an Ecosystem Approach to the Sustainable
Use of the Resources of the Agulhas and
Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystem (A&S
LME Program)
Western Indian Ocean Marine Highway Development
and Coastal and Marine Contamination Prevention
Project
Development and Protection of the Coastal
and Marine Environment in Sub-Saharan Africa
Southwest Indian Ocean Fisheries Project
(SWIOFP)
The conference will officially be opened
on Tuesday 31 July 2007 by the South African
Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism,
Mr Marthinus van Schalkwyk and be closed
by South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Environmental
Affairs and Tourism, Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi.
This is the second GEF international gathering
hosted by South Africa. The first was the
GEF Third Assembly held in August 2006.
Participation in the conference is by invitation
only. Members of the media are requested
to register through the Department of Environmental
Affairs and Tourism.
Mava Scott (Acting Chief Director: Communications)
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Authorities Arrest Five Chinese Nationals,
Confiscate Abalone and Vehicles
25 July 2007 - Media Statement - Department
of Environmental Affairs and Tourism - WEDNESDAY,
25 JULY 2007: Officials from the Department
of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, the
South African Police Services’ Dog Unit
and Organised Crime Units have earlier today
(Wednesday, 25 July 2007) during a successful
joint operation arrested five Chinese nationals
(4 men and one woman), seized more than
18 500 units of dried abalone and confiscated
4 motor vehicles and abalone drying equipment
during an operation carried out in Johannesburg
today.
The abalone is estimated to be worth more
that R1million. The operation which spawned
from intelligence gathering and tip offs
from members of the community, involved
searches at two separate but linked premises
around the Roodepoort area. The first premise
was used as an operational abalone drying
factory fully equipped with various drying
equipment.
The suspects have been taken to the Sophiatown
police station in Johannesburg and are expected
to appear in court later this week.
“The arrests today should send a strong
signal to those who come to our country
to plunder our natural resource base. No
matter where you are, we will find you.
Our patience is at zero tolerance. You not
only rape our environment but you also are
denying future generations from enjoying
the benefits of our marine resources,” said
Mava Scott, Head of Communications in the
Department of Environmental Affairs and
Tourism
Mava Scott (Acting Chief Director: Communications)
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Speech by the Minister of Environmental
Affairs & Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk,
at the National Conference of the Southern
African Association for the Conference Industry
(SAACI), Cape Town, 23 July 2007
23 July 2007 – Speech - Challenges in the
Tourism Industry - INTRODUCTION - It is
a great honour to open this National Conference
of the Southern African Association for
the Conference Industry.To some, it may
seem a contradiction in terms. Is it really
possible to engage in serious business when
you’re out of your usual workday environment,
surrounded by scenic beauty and a host of
compelling sights and attractions? At the
same time, is it really possible to enjoy
a fleeting getaway in an exotic location,
when getting down to business is uppermost
on the agenda? Answer: in South Africa,
it’s possible. No other business destination
in the world offers such a tantalising combination
of practical and philosophical insight,
in a setting of such natural grandeur and
diversity, in a land of such warm and welcoming
people.
BUSINESS TOURISM
The tourism industry, given pride of place
amongst ASGISA’s priority sectors, has outdone
itself yet again. Arrival statistics for
2006 show that South Africa received almost
8.4 million international arrivals - an
increase of more than 1 million visitors
compared to the previous year, and resounding
evidence that the focused marketing efforts
of South African Tourism (SAT) are paying
off in every sense.
We know that Business Tourism can contribute
positively to the volume of foreign arrivals
to South Africa. It can also play an important
role in reducing seasonality and drive transformation
of the economy. We have therefore put in
a lot of work in developing our Business
Tourism Growth Strategy, which is the outcome
of research undertaken in 2006/07. The strategy
sets out to understand the market, and identify
where South African Tourism should focus
its marketing efforts and resources.
With more than 1,700 conference venues around
the country, South Africa hosts more than
860 major conferences every year. Our key
target markets for attracting international
meetings are the United Kingdom and the
USA, followed by Germany, France, and the
Netherlands.
The world market for Meetings, Incentives,
Conferences, and Exhibitions, the core drivers
of Business Tourism, is expected to make
up 10% of the estimated US$672-billion generated
by the travel and tourism industry, with
the figure doubling by 2013. Competition
in this market, naturally, is tough. Globally,
South Africa is currently ranked 23rd by
the Union of International Associations
(UIA) as a top meetings destination and
31st by the International Congress and Convention
Association (ICCA). But Business Tourism
is very serious business, and we have set
ourselves an ambitious goal to tie-in with
the FIFA World Cup in 2010. By the time
that momentous event kicks off in South
Africa, it is our vision to progress our
destination ranking substantially to get
into the Top 10 of preferred global meetings
destinations. This is an ambitious goal
and requires a concerted and collaborative
partnership with industry.Getting to that
position will take an unusual amount of
work, an unusual amount of confidence, and
an unusual amount of selling our proposition
to Meetings and Incentive planners around
the globe.
Thanks to continued investment in infrastructure,
greater professionalism within our industry,
our value-for-money tourism offerings, and
the sheer uniqueness of our destination,
we believe we are well positioned to turn
this goal into a reality. There are however
some challenges we have to deal with in
reaching these goals.
TOURISM TRANSPORT & AIRLIFT
One of the functional transport areas inhibiting
tourism growth is airlift and the creation
of an efficient tourist public transport
system. The core of any strategy to yield
growth from tourism is the ability to maximize
opportunities for spending by visitors.
The development of new and more diverse
product offerings, in pursuit of this goal,
has to be supported by a system that can
connect visitors to products and attractions
efficiently and effectively.
Regarding airlift, we have decided that
the main theme of our annual National Tourism
Conference to be held at the end of October
this year will be “Tourism and Aviation”.
I am furthermore pleased to announce that
thus far, the implementation of the airlift
strategy - the result of a strong partnership
between DEAT, SAT, the Department of Transport
and the private sector - has shown impressive
increases in capacity to bring tourists
to South Africa. Between September 2006
and January this year, rights for almost
1.4 million additional seats per year were
secured.
The obvious reality with regards to tourism
is that the current public transport system
is not geared to serving the needs of accommodation
establishments and attractions. In this
regard we welcome the many initiatives in
upgrading the public transport system in
the run-up to 2010.
TOURISM SAFETY AND SECURITY
When tourists in the global markets make
decisions about where to travel, they weigh
up a number of criteria. Safety and security
in a destination is the second most important
purchase criterion after value for money
for South Africa’s target consumers across
all our 10 priority markets. Research conducted
by SA Tourism, has indicated that while
South Africa is in many respects an attractive
tourist destination, fear of crime could
be a possible deterrent to potential visitors.
The 2005 SA Tourism brand tracking survey
revealed that, of all target consumers in
the eight core markets represented, about
22.25 million (33.8% of the total market
of 65.8 million) mentioned fears about safety
as one reason for not visiting South Africa
in the last five years. Crime is therefore
an issue we as industry have to deal with
if we want to reach our target of 10 million
arrivals by 2010.
We as government are working tirelessly
in addressing and intensifying our war against
crime. Just to highlight a couple of initiatives.
There has been a significant increase in
resources going to the fight against crime.
Since 2003/04, allocations to the Safety
and Security ministry have increased by
43 per cent. Over the next three years,
resources going to the police will rise
by a further 34 per cent from R33 billion
in 2006/07 to R44 billion in 2009/10. In
this year’s budget, government is allocating
an extra R2,4 billion to the police to further
expand police numbers and invest in technology
and forensic equipment. By 2010, we will
have close to 190 000 police officers on
our streets.
I am pleased to report that DEAT, together
with Provinces and the South African Police
Services established a National Task Team
to oversee the development of a National
Tourism Safety and Awareness Strategy. After
a series of consultation meetings, a draft
National Tourism Safety and Awareness Strategy
has been developed. Further consultation
with other critical stakeholders, particularly
members of the Tourism Business Council
of South Africa which represents the tourism
industry, was undertaken through workshops.
The strategy amongst others, calls for
an integrated approach in addressing tourism
safety and awareness and recognizes the
SAPS as a critical role player, with a direct
mandate regarding safety and security matters.
Hence, its participation and input throughout
the process was prioritized.
In the implementation of the strategy,
DEAT will collaborate, particularly with
the Department of Safety, around the following:
The possibility of having a designated
officer in every Police Station, dealing
with tourism crime related issues. The long
term aim is to establish Tourism Ambassador
Units in Police Stations, with specialized
training.
Some Provinces have established Provincial
and Local Safety and Security Forums and
the formal participation of SAPS is of significant
importance and others are in the process
of putting such structures in place.
The SAPS have established planning forums
which are referred to as National and Provincial
Joints meetings, where operations for events
are planned. The Tourism sector will ensure
participation in these meetings to provide
information on activities, routes and events
taking place around the country.
There is also a need for adding a tourism
variable in the existing crime database
making available tourism crime incidents
and progress on investigations. This can
assist in dealing with perceptions that
the country may not be safe for tourists.
Our department has also produced a Tourism
Safety Tips booklet and we are in the process
of producing a Handbook for Tourism Practitioners.
The role that industry and society has
to play in the implementation of the strategy
cannot be overemphasized. Law enforcement
agencies alone cannot win the war against
crime, as some of these crimes are committed
within industry, by employees and owners
of establishments. These include making
information on tourists available to crime
syndicates, theft of tourist’s property
in some establishments, illegal use of tourist
credit cards, unlawful levy collections,
illegal tour guiding and unlicenced tour
operators. These crime categories were discussed
and acknowledged by Industry players in
a workshop convened by TBCSA and DEAT, where
certain resolutions were taken to address
them.
I want to thank the industry for the positive
role they are playing in jointly addressing
this issue.
CONCLUSION
South Africa is renowned for breaking new
ground; for succeeding against all odds.
I have no doubt whatsoever that the goals
we have set ourselves in the tourism industry
will be realised within record time. I congratulate
SAACI in its pursuit of excellence and wish
the conference the very best in your deliberations.
By working together, South Africa cannot
fail to become one of the world’s favourite
destinations.
Riaan Aucamp (Minister's Spokesperson)
