Chair, thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to outline the department's plans, which are aimed at ensuring that we contribute to the ongoing government programme to create jobs and grow the economy.
The primary focus of many of our programmes is people and people development. We are determined to make the commitment of "Working together in positioning tourism as a national growth driver in the economy" a reality.
Transformation of the sector is vital to ensure sustainable growth and development in the tourism industry. Our National Tourism Sector Strategy, NTSS, as outlined by the Minister and approved by Cabinet in March this year, is an ambitious plan developed by all stakeholders in the tourism sector.
This strategy will be the driver that will enable us to reach our ambitious growth targets and, by 2020, truly position us amongst the top 20 destinations in the world. It will serve not only as a tool of inspiration to take our sector to greater heights than ever before, but also as a map to guide us along the way and a yardstick by which to measure our performance.
It is our sincere belief that the success of the NTSS lies in its implementation. It is for this reason that we will be establishing a delivery forum to be convened by the director-general twice a year. It will be comprised of all the tourism social partners, such as government, industry, labour and nongovernmental organisations.
One of the key focus areas of this strategy is job creation, and the department will contribute about 10 270 full-time equivalent jobs in the 2011-12 financial year through its social responsibility implementation programme and the tourism enterprise partnership programme.
The government will work towards increasing the number of tourism programmes and projects led by and benefiting communities. Earlier, the chairperson and other members mentioned some of the department's programmes. These we will implement in our efforts to contribute to the creation of a skills base for the industry and job opportunities, especially for young people. They include the following.
The National Youth Chefs Training Programme, with an intake of about 800 unemployed young people over a three-year period. A budget of R25 million has been allocated for the first year.
The Hospitality Youth Initiative is a training and experiential placement project for unemployed youth. The initial target was 300 young people. This has been increased to about 800, with a budget of R15 million, up from R7 million.
The Tourism Buddies Youth Project, with a budget of R39 million. This is a tourism and hospitality training and experiential placement programme with an intake of 975 young people who are to be trained nationally. We hope to extend this annual project in the next financial year pending its performance, the availability of funding and demand.
As part of the National Tourism Sector Strategy, we are focusing on rural tourism. The development of rural areas is an identified priority area for government during this electoral mandate period. Therefore we will have to promote investment in the development of tourism products and attractions in rural areas.
For rural tourism development to have a significant pro-poor impact on communities, an effective strategy consisting of strategic interventions by government that allow poor people better access to revenues accruing to the tourism market, is in the process of being developed.
We are working closely together with the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform to finalise the rural tourism strategy. This builds on the strategy developed in the 2010-11 financial year. The department intends supporting and training 530 rural enterprise programmes on tourism awareness, customer service and toolkits during the current financial year.
Working together with the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Salga and other partners, we will develop a comprehensive framework for tourism with local government support. This is in recognition of the role that provincial and local government play in the tourism value chain, either directly or indirectly.
The framework will take into account the impact of local government bylaws and rates and taxes on the tourism sector, as well as the cost of doing business at a locality. It will look at tourism asset management, local safety, information, structures, and infrastructure, among other things. It will also look at the harmonisation of policies and/or bylaws that have direct implications for tourism products across provinces.
The department has also put together a plan to roll out a series of road shows to provinces with the aim of engaging provincial government departments and stakeholders. Among others things, the road shows will afford the department the opportunity to share with provinces their projects linked to the National Tourism Sector Strategy and to explore further discussions on areas of co-operation.
Where issues of marketing are to be discussed, the department's delegation will include officials from SA Tourism and the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa.
One of the key discussion points will be on the development of a common budget structure for tourism. The aim of this is to make certain that resources are channelled to priorities as agreed to in the NTSS, with an emphasis on ensuring that we reach greater integration levels in all spheres of government and that there is an adequate spread of resources to cover areas such as marketing and grading.
On regional tourism development, it is becoming increasingly important that South Africa continues with its visible contribution to regional development. The NTSS is aimed at growing the value of regional tourism by establishing five SA Tourism offices on the continent by 2020. Statistics already indicate that there are markets within Africa that South Africa has not taken full advantage of.
With regard to our Indaba, Tourism Month and Welcome Awards, SA Tourism supported the department recently by holding a successful Tourism Indaba at the Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban. Indaba is one of the largest tourism marketing events on the African calendar and one of the top three must-visit events of its kind on the global calendar.
It showcases the widest variety of South Africa's best tourism products, and attracts international visitors and media from around the world. For two years in a row Indaba has won the award for Africa's best travel and tourism show, which was presented by the Association of World Travel Awards.
Another high-level tourism event which will be hosted by the department is Tourism Month in September - not just for a day, but for the whole month. This will culminate in celebrating the UN World Tourism Organisation World Tourism Day.
One of the focus areas of the Department of Tourism is encouraging domestic tourism, and this event is aimed at stimulating South Africans to travel within their country and to appreciate and enjoy the beauty that the country has to offer.
This year will see the announcement of the revamped Tourism Excellence Awards during Tourism Month to ensure that there are premier, world-class tourism awards in the region and on the continent. The awards are aimed at rewarding and celebrating excellence in the sector, strengthening commitment by stakeholders towards building a sustainable industry, and profiling the industry competitively among other business sectors.
In conclusion, let me take this opportunity to thank my Minister for the leadership that he always displays. Although you give credit for enthusiasm, I am sure I am taking it from you, hon Minister. I would also like to thank our director-general and ambassador, Kingsley Makhubela, and his team in the department for their good work, SA Tourism and the industry as a whole, as well as the people of South Africa.
Without the people, we cannot do it. We are always saying our people must be given an opportunity to tell their own story about their country by being active participants. We therefore say, "Together we can do more". Thank you, Chairperson.