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DE RUEHDU #0066/01 1601523
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R 091523Z JUN 09
FM AMCONSUL DURBAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1471
INFO RUCNSAD/SADC COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
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RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 0845

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DURBAN 000066 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR AF/S, INR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SF PGOV
SUBJECT: NEW EMPHASIS ON TOURISM IN SOUTH AFRICA 
 
REF: A. PRETORIA 990 B. DURBAN 65 
 
DURBAN 00000066  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary.  The newly formed Ministry of Tourism is 
advocating for greater government attention and support for the 
tourism sector as South Africa prepares to host the 2010 FIFA 
World Cup.  A new tourism satellite account will enable South 
Africa to measure and track the overall value and contribution 
of tourism to all sectors of the economy.  New tourism websites 
kick-off South African Tourism's (SAT) goal of becoming the 
leading tourism platform in Africa and the number one tourism 
authority by 2010.  For many industry leaders, the only hope for 
improvement in the South Africa tourism sector lies in upcoming 
global sporting events such as the World Cup.  End Summary. 
 
 
 
Overview 
 
 
 
¶2. (U) The newly formed Ministry of Tourism is advocating for 
greater government attention and support for the tourism sector 
as South Africa prepares to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup (Reftel 
A).  South African Tourism Board, a public-private tourism 
promotion agency, welcomed the Ministry's initiative during the 
2009 Tourism Indaba (Reftel B).  SAT Chairperson Jabu Mabuza 
Mabuza commented that, `This is recognition of both this 
industry's importance to the economy that is embodied in the 
Tourism Growth Strategy, which is mandated to create jobs and 
contribute to Gross Domestic Product.'  Tourism contributed more 
than one million jobs and an estimated $24 billion to the 
economy in 2008, according to Mabuza.  (Comment: Post questions 
whether the figure was as high as $24 billion and recognizes the 
need for better tourism data collections efforts.  End Comment. 
)  SAT hopes that additional resources will be invested in 
tourism as so much rides on an industry that has delivered, and 
will continue to deliver significantly to the South African 
economy.  `We hope that government, together with the tourism 
industry, will join us in growing this industry in partnership,' 
said Mabuza. 
 
 
 
¶3. (U) This new emphasis on tourism makes sense given that 9.5 
million foreign tourists spent $9 billion in South Africa last 
year, according to Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk. 
This was 23.5 percent more than they did the year before, an 
increase that was `especially encouraging', he said in a 
statement.  Over the past two decades, the number of foreign 
tourists who travel to South Africa has increased 800 percent, 
from one million to more than nine million, according to a 
tourism report conducted by First National Bank (FNB) commercial 
tourism division.  (Note: This growth is from a low base. 
Foreign tourism to South Africa increased dramatically after the 
end of apartheid as other nations lifted economic sanctions and 
introduced new air services.  End Note)  `It will further be 
bolstered by the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, the British Lions 
Tour, and the 2010 FIFA World Cup', said the Head of FNB Tourism 
Pieter de Bruin. 
 
 
 
¶4. (U) The World Cup is a huge opportunity for South Africa, and 
the challenge for the tourism sector is to leverage this 
opportunity  into the future as the publicity that it provides 
for one month next year will benefit the country for many years 
to come, said Bruin.  He also explained that the rand/dollar 
exchange rate combined with the decrease in fuel prices has 
decreased the cost of travel to South Africa making it a 
value-for-money destination.  (Note: Bruin said this when the 
Rand exchange rate was 11 to the dollar and oil prices were 
below $50 per barrel.  Both have risen significantly in the past 
months.  End Note.) 
 
 
 
¶5. (U) Tourism has become the lifeblood of the economy, said SAT 
Board Chairman Jabu Mabuza at the 2009 Indaba (REFTEL B). 
Tourism contributed 8.4 percent to South Africa's gross domestic 
product last year.  Millions of people have found gainful 
employment in the industry, and it has contributed some $350 
billion dollars in foreign direct spending to the economy since 
2003, noted Mabuza.  `While growth in the global tourism 
industry was 1.3 percent last year, South Africa fared much 
better at 5.5 percent.  We remain cautiously confident that we 
will attain the target of 10 million visitors to South Africa in 
2010 that we set for ourselves four years ago.' 
 
 
 
DURBAN 00000066  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) 
 
 
 
¶6. (U) SAT, the Ministry of Tourism, the South African Reserve 
Bank, and Statistics South Africa launched the first Tourism 
Satellite Account (TSA) during the Indaba.  The TSA is a United 
Nations World Travel Organization approved methodology used for 
measuring and tracking the overall value and contribution of 
tourism to all sectors of the economy and to plan around issues 
such as economic growth and job creation.  TSA will fill the 
statistics void around peripheral industries to enable marketers 
to plan, execute and work to more effectively leverage the full 
potential of the industry. 
 
 
 
¶7. (U) Tourism has grown considerably in the past few years, and 
the industry has generated more than $43 billion in foreign 
direct spending since 2003, according to Mabuza.  However, it 
has been difficult to measure and track tourism's contribution 
to the larger economy and to total job creation in South Africa. 
  Tourism is now entrenched as one of the pillars of economic 
and social development in South Africa, according to former 
Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Deputy 
Director-General Sindiswa Nhlumayo (Note: This department has 
since been split into the Department of Tourism and the 
Department of Environmental Affairs and Water).    Nhlumayo 
explained that accurate research/data exists on the tourism 
industry, but research on the impact of tourism on peripheral 
industries has been lacking.  Tourism bodies will be able to 
track the number of tourism jobs created,  track tourism's 
contribution to the country's GDP, and tell which activities are 
most beneficial to the tourist and, in effect, to the economy. 
 
 
 
New Tourism Websites 
 
 
 
¶8. (U) The Indaba also saw the launch of SAT's new official 
website, which aims to `package destination and interest into an 
interactive experience that grabs users' attention, engages them 
in wonderful content and gives them an opportunity to act on 
it,' said SAT Global Head of e-Marketing William Price.  The 
site has been completely revamped and includes new content, a 
redesigned user interface, and restructured navigation elements. 
 The site now offers features such as: (1) `The Trip Planner' 
that allows users to build a wish list that can be sent to a 
travel agent; (2) `Your Concierge' that allows users to filter 
products by category and region and send enquiries directly to 
vendors; and (3) `Fundi Enquiries' that allows users to find 
experts in their own global regions to whom they can send 
enquiries about travel to South Africa.  The search feature also 
uses a Google-based program to link up searches with related 
product and services in South Africa.  The new site is a central 
part of SAT's goal of becoming the leading tourism platform in 
Africa and the number one tourism authority by 2010.  `Tourism 
is an extremely competitive space online, and we now have a 
world-class travel website that will compete with the best the 
world has to offer,' said SAT Chief Marketing Officer Roshene 
Singh.  SAT is also collaborating with social network wayn.com 
on a competition to identify the face of the tourist to South 
Africa; the winner will receive an all-expenses paid trip to the 
World Cup, and his or her adventure will be chronicled and sent 
to wayn.com's 13 million users. 
 
 
 
¶9. (U) SAT has also launched a new Japanese website 
(www.south-africa.jp) that features World Cup information, and 
general South Africa information along with photographs and 
movies, focusing on the beauty of South Africa's natural 
heritage, particularly flowers and wildlife.  The main concept 
of SAT Japan's marketing initiatives for 2009 and 2010 is 
`Surprise Yourself' and encourages tourists to share photographs 
and movies and participate in the Picture Perfect campaign 
co-sponsored by the Japanese Association of Travel Agents 
Working Group. 
 
 
 
¶10. (U) The Department of Tourism also launched the Tourism 
Products Spatial Viewer at the Indaba.  This web-mapping portal 
is an interactive mapping tool that maps the location of rated 
establishments as well as other tourism products and services in 
 
DURBAN 00000066  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
South Africa.  It contains interactive maps, imagery and details 
of 8,000 accommodation establishments and 17,000 tourist-related 
facilities.  The site can be accessed via the Web or through a 
cell phone on www.touristmaps.co.za/mobi.  The Business Tourism 
and Trade websites are also slated for overhaul in the next 
phases of SAT's restructuring plan. 
 
 
 
Tourism in the Global Recession 
 
 
 
¶11. (U) The realities of the global recession featured 
prominently in many of the speeches during the 11th African 
Renaissance Festival (ARF) hosted in Durban, Pietermaritzburg, 
and Richards Bay from May 25- 30.  `It's not pretty.  The South 
African tourism industry is set to shed about 27,000 jobs.  The 
industry is in a place it has never been,' said Southern Africa 
Tourism Services Association Head Michael Tatalias.  For many 
speakers at the ARF, the only hope for improvement lay in 
upcoming global sporting events such as the World Cup.  Much of 
the current construction work throughout South Africa is related 
to 2010 and is the only industry showing growth, according to 
Tsogo Sun Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jabulani Mabuza.  Author 
of Zuma-nomics and Deputy CEO of Business Unity South Africa 
Raymond Parsons argues that winning the World Cup for 2010 
instead of 2006 has turned out to be the salvation of the 
nation's economy during the global recession.  The 
infrastructural investment and associated spending related to 
the 2010 is helping to `underpin' the South African economy at a 
crucial stage in the business cycle, said Parsons. 
 
 
 
¶12. (U) Major sporting events, however, cannot sustain tourism 
unless the industry leverages the momentum they might generate, 
said Tourism Knowledge Group CEO Anitha Soni.  `You have to give 
value for money' and the current `squeeze' demands `smart 
marketing' and an even stronger emphasis on delivery, said Soni. 
 She added that South Africa is not `doing tourism' just because 
of the World Cup, but because it is part of government's 
long-term growth strategy.  South Africa's challenge is to move 
away from `quick and dirty' tourism, said Soni.  For example, 
many European tourists arrive in Johannesburg, go to Kruger 
Park, then to Cape Town, and perhaps Zambia in about seven days 
and leave feeling they have `done' Africa, explained Soni.  The 
South African tourism industry has to work to develop ways of 
getting tourists to stay longer and to visit more than once 
because `we want to spread tourism, create jobs, and transform 
the industry,' Soni said. 
 
 
 
Comment 
 
 
 
¶13. (U) Spending on preparations for the upcoming 2010 World Cup 
may help soften the impact of the global recession on South 
Africa's economy.  Ticket sales for the 2010 World Cup have been 
strong thus far and other international sporting events held in 
South Africa have provided boosts to overseas tourist arrivals 
this year when most international tourism markets are 
experiencing declines.   Government and private sector 
investments in infrastructure and tourism marketing should allow 
South Africa to leverage this opportunity to position its 
economy to take full advantage of the tourism growth once the 
global economy begins to grow again. 
SZSYKES