Hon Deputy Speaker, it is important to report on those submissions from our oversight visit that stood out as critical to growth in the tourism industry.
Although tourism in South Africa has proved to be profitable for people in some areas of the nation, there are still many serious problems facing our domestic and international tourism market. Allow me to unpack - with some proposals - what we believe are the most serious issues requiring attention. Firstly, the implementation of the new biometric visa requirements for travellers is already proving to be a serious obstacle for people wanting to visit our country. The impact on our economy is severe, and we have proof of this. The solution to this would be to issue electronic visas and then do the biometrics part upon arrival. We need to streamline tourist visa applications to our country.
Secondly, the affordability problem and the limited geographic spread are just two of the negative factors impacting on our domestic tourism market. In an attempt to make suggestions on how to deal with these obstacles, I have previously submitted questions on the audit of the current products, especially in rural areas, given the fact that there are many poorly developed and poorly maintained government-funded tourist attractions that remain underused throughout the country.
In fact, there are more than 700 municipal resorts that were identified as underused. This is really a pity, considering that these resorts - which were built with taxpayers' money - are located in various small towns and are consequently becoming a huge liability for those municipalities. The solution is to partner with the private sector to develop affordable holiday resorts that will target new budget domestic markets. There is clearly a lacklustre approach to turning these resorts around. The resorts, if sorted out, could go a long way towards boosting domestic tourism figures and helping small and rural communities.
Ultimately the key focus of the Department of Tourism must cover the actions and policy shifts required to deal with the current discourse between tourism and poverty alleviation, because the mere fact that tourism takes place does not mean that money trickles down to the poor. Ultimately, then, we need real measures to ensure that tourism does reduce poverty and, with that, creates more employment opportunities and ultimately more emerging small businesses and entrepreneurs in the tourism industry.
The DA supports the Report. Thank you. [Applause.]