Madam Chair, hon members, there can be no doubt that the SA Tourism Board needs to be restructured.
Satour was created to market South Africa in a period during which the international community imposed travel restrictions on visitors to and from South Africa to protest against the country's policy of apartheid. As such, it operated in an environment that was not conducive to tourism development. It has come to be associated with the old South Africa and therefore lacked a vision of our new reality, namely greater representation of the previously neglected groups and development of tourism in a way that would contribute to the reconstruction and development of our country.
The importance of the Tourism Amendment Bill cannot be emphasised enough if one looks at the economic potential of tourism in South Africa. In 1994, tourism was estimated to have contributed a mere 2% of the gross domestic product. It increased to 4% during 1995. This growth trend continued at such a pace that the World Tourism Organisation ranked South Africa as one of the top tourist destinations in the world in 1998.
A calculation made by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism shows that if tourism continues its upward trend, tourism could triple its contribution to national income. This means that the industry could generate some R40 billion annually and create 2 million jobs. This, however, will only be possible if we broaden our tourism industry by drawing in the many communities and neglected groups that have been excluded in the past. These communities and groups possess significant tourism resources.
The White Paper on Tourism recognises that -
... provincial government has a critically important role to play in the development and promotion of the tourism industry of South Africa.
Schedule 6 of the Constitution explicitly provides for tourism to be a provincial responsibility. However, the Constitution also envisages a central role for national government in the effective marketing and promotion of the country by promoting tourism as a national priority. The Tourism Amendment Bill seeks to achieve both of the above objectives.
By giving the hon the Minister the power to appoint people on the basis of their potential active involvement in tourism, the opportunity is given to neglected communities and groups to enter the tourism industry. In the past, these communities and groups lacked access to the tourism market because visitors were kept within hotels and resorts and ventured out only to ``sanitised'' places of interest. Tourists were a rare sight in local shebeens or amongst the local craft vendors. Furthermore, many negative attitudes existed within the tourism industry towards community tourism products, which were regarded as inferior.
The Tourism Amendment Bill does not negate the role of provinces or the other key parties involved in tourism. It merely seeks to transform the Tourism Board to make it more representative. The fact that the provision requiring representation by businesses and labour sectors and provinces had been removed does not mean that this sector will not be consulted in any tourism plans.
The amendment proposes an alternative means of facilitating the involvement of provinces in the Tourism Board. The chairperson of the Board will have to communicate the minutes of every Board meeting to the members of the executive council responsible for tourism in each province. The Board must also consult with the relevant members of the executive council on the establishment of procedures and programmes to promote and maintain a sound working relationship between the Board and the various provinces. [Applause.]
Madam Chairperson, in support of my chairperson, and also on behalf of the Northern Cape, I would just like to make a brief input.
The Northern Cape supports the amending Bill and also understands the significant role the Tourism Act plays with regard to job creation among our people. The issues addressed are straightforward, as described in the memorandum. The Bill gives the Minister the right to choose the members of the board once he or she has advertised for nominations.
I want to make mention of this because there has been quite a heated debate on some of the issues regarding the amending Bill. Provinces should note the provision of the proposed new section 13B, which requires the minutes of the board meetings to be sent to the provincial tourism MECs and emphasises the procedures and programmes for co-operative relations within the provinces. There is no need for us to fear that the provinces are left out of the board.
The Bill seeks to amend the Tourism Act of 1993, Act 72 of 1993, in order to change the composition of the SA Tourism Board. It proposes that the maximum number of members be reduced from 20 to 15 and the minimum number from 15 to 9.
This means that the provision requiring representation by the business, community and labour sectors and by provinces are removed to make allowance for appointments to the board. The Minister will then have a free hand in finding the very best talent from whatever walk of life to appoint to the board. Alternative arrangements were made to liaise with the provincial governments.
The provinces support the amending Bill. [Applause.]
Hon members, I note with some interest that it is the Northern Cape and the North West that are participating in this debate to amend the Tourism Act. They seem to express quite an interest in increasing tourism. The closeness of the provinces is interesting.
Debate concluded.
Bill agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.