Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to thank all hon members for participating in this debate and for their constructive contributions, but, especially their hard work in the portfolio committee. I would also like to thank all political parties for their unanimous support, it is highly appreciated.
The chairperson of the committee, the hon member Gumede, encapsulated the overall objective of this Bill: To ensure that South Africa becomes an even more competitive destination and a very effective tourism destination. Hon members in this House know that when we agreed to the National Tourism Sector Strategy, as government and the private sector, we said that our objective is that South Africa must be one of the top 20 destinations by the year 2020 and we are well on our way to achieve just that.
The hon member, Farrow, raised one particular issue that I would like to briefly respond to, and that is the issue of the credibility and integrity of our statistics. Let me assure this House that I have always believed that the official government statistics are beyond reproach. There is nothing wrong with those statistics, but, nevertheless, I appointed a committee made up of all the relevant stakeholders, the private sector and their representative bodies. The end result is that all of us agreed on the system, and we have dealt with the one or two minor question marks and filters on those issues quite successfully. So, we all agreed that the official government statistics is what all of us can accept as the truth. Let me just say that it is supported by all the private sector surveys, accommodation survey, business confidence survey, etc. We used the definition of the United Nations World Tourism Organization, UNWTO, as the definition agreed to by all of us.
In conclusion, when the President announces the statistics this coming Thursday, for the last year, 2012, it will be another brief in ensuring that we build towards what we want to be and that is, to be one of the top tourism destinations by 2020. Thank you, Madam Speaker. [Applause.]