Chairperson, let me also appreciate the response by the Deputy Minister. The concern emanates from the statement that was made by the former Chief Executive Officer the Tourism Business Council, on the competition that our country is facing particularly with regard to competitors in particular the East Africa, because the International Monetary Fund, IMF, says that East Africa is growing at a more rapid rate than the rest of the continent and is becoming an increasingly attractive tourist destination as compared to South Africa.
We want to know if the department has figured out what are the mechanisms and interventions that we can either put in place to maximise opportunities for tourism growth? I am raising this point against the background of the resolution that we took at Nasrec against advancing transformation in the tourism sector which is very important and also to ensure that the popularity of South Africa as a tourist location highlights the need for more streamline support
including alignment of the goal of increasing tourism activity with the security of tourism and the visas of the country.
What is important is how do we ensure that as a country we put in place mechanisms to mitigate the fact that other countries in the continent are beginning to pose a serious contest to us. Thank you.