Chairperson, any industry that contributes more than gold mining to export revenues deserves to be taken seriously. Certainly, that sentiment was underscored by President Zuma when he stated on 25 February 2010 that he wanted tourism's share of GDP to increase by double digits in the next five years.
To achieve this, tourism needs the freedom to release its entrepreneurial spirit and recognition that it is an overwhelmingly demand-driven service industry, operating against ferocious international competition for customers. Most of all, it needs an enabling government that not only aggressively promotes its products in nimble and innovative ways, but is also sensitive to the fact that tourism operates in an interdependent environment, which is affected by the performance of other government departments.
Consider the key milestone of the increase in foreign arrivals to our country, from one million in 1990 to virtually 10 million arrivals now. This represents a compound growth of about 13% a year over those 20 momentous years.
That is impressive growth by almost any measure, until one focuses on the department's own figures in the latter six years, which revealingly show that annual growth halved to 6,9% over this period. So we have done well, but maybe not well enough.
The increase in tourism's total contribution to GDP over the same six-year period to R194,5 billion or 18% per annum is impressive even after allowing for the Consumer Price Index, CPIX, which reduces the growth in real terms to 11%. But those figures mask a structural imbalance in that we are overexposed to Africa and Europe.
Africa alone accounts for around three quarters of foreign arrivals, so we need to look further afield if we are to increase tourism beyond a high-end low-impact destination of five and four-star accommodation only.
Worryingly, some of those markets are showing the least growth. Our six largest long-haul destinations - the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States of America, France, Netherlands and Australia - totalled 1 188 000 tourists in 2002, growing to only 1 393 000 tourists in 2008, an annual growth rate of just 2,5% per year.
SA Tourism has succeeded in providing informed, sophisticated and responsive marketing to consumers' fast-changing needs and choices. It must also be resourced to be competitive on a cut-throat global stage.
When growth is sluggish in your key markets and competition is fierce, you don't cut your advertising budget. Australia spends twice as much as South Africa, promoting an already winning nation. We need to keep on after the World Cup to ensure that the unparalleled awareness that is created will result in at least three quarters of a million extra tourists per year.
To properly resource SA Tourism will amount to less than one tenth of one percent of our current national budget. The most compelling statistics arising from the Tourism, Sport and Mega Events Summit in February was that every pound spent marketing the UK resulted in four pounds in revenue.
So cutting SA Tourism's budget by R160 million in the next three years, just after this watershed moment in our country's history, isn't just inexplicable timing, it is also misconceived, because increasing tourism spending should deliver a net return to the fiscus.
Barcelona entrenched its brand image as a value-for-money destination during the 1992 Olympics. Germany used the 2006 Fifa World Cup to rebrand itself as a fun-loving nation at peace with itself and its patriotic symbols. We have already flirted with a "yellow card" with budget cuts potentially impacting negatively on this event. We cut back in marketing our country around the 2010 event, especially among qualifying nations.
Only 160 existing tourist guides were up-skilled and new entrants trained in the previous financial year for similar reasons. That followed the establishment of a smaller 2010 unit in 2007, again due to budget cuts.
The Department of Tourism has, mostly, performed well, but can it really succeed when it lacks the resources to do a proper job? In 37 days' time the opening match of the 19th Fifa World Cup will kick off. As Africans, the DA sees the World Cup as a unique opportunity to roll back Afro- pessimism by hosting a world-class African World Cup that will deliver a lasting social legacy and help rebuild one South African nation with one future. Ke nako!
We join with all sides in this House in recognising the common heritage that we celebrate as Africans in the calabash and its ring-of-fire lighting, the majesty of the Moses Mabhida arch, the giraffe supports at Mbombela stadium, the architectural beauty of the Cape Town stadium and the stunning world-class new airports.
As Africans, we say: Phambili Bafana Bafana! Phambili Aaron Mokoena! [Forward Bafana Bafana! Forward Aaron Mokoena!]
HON MEMBERS: Phambili! [Forward!]