Chairperson, may I start with congratulating the two chairpersons of these committees as well as members who've made contributions to the debate today. I also wish to convey our commitment, as a department, to make the work of the committee a success, because we all have the common goal of attaining a better life for all our people.
In recognition of the goals set by the President in terms of poverty eradication, sustainable job creation and rural development, our department stands firm in our resolve to join hands with our business and civil society partners to ensure that we take the tourism industry from strength to strength.
We acknowledge the contribution to the debate by hon Swart, who acknowledged the fact that in the year 2008 such growth was an indication of what tourism can do in South Africa. Looking at the question he posed to the Minister regarding the kind of targets we are looking at in the current financial year, although we will present details at a later stage when we table the strategic plan of the new department, we are targeting about 10 million foreign arrivals in South Africa. Indeed, as an integral part of economic growth and job creation, we are looking at providing the right opportunities and assistance to small and medium-sized tourism enterprises and our department has implemented a number of very successful initiatives in this regard. The Tourism Enterprise Partnership encourages an entrepreneurial spirit and a responsible tourism focus through, amongst others, supporting unique arts and crafts experiences, including artists, performers, tour guides, cuisine and cultural and heritage products.
Our continuous campaign to improve quality and standards in the tourism industry is in line with our commitment as government to utilise state levies such as licensing and support to assist SMMEs and promote the implementation of broad-based black economic empowerment targets. In this regard, the Tourism Grading Council has stepped up its assistance to SMME accommodation establishments to be graded and a total of 8 544 establishments had been graded by February this year as official accommodation for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
We all understand the potential of the tourism industry in contributing to local and rural development. As part of the Expanded Public Works Programme, our Community Work Programme will be fast-tracked. This injection of resources is geared towards assisting us in our renewed efforts to create job opportunities.
In line with the country's comprehensive rural development strategy, the department will continue to prioritise the development of community and rural tourism to ensure that tourism benefits are equitably distributed. In order to kick-start rural tourism, we have to unlock tourism potential at the local sphere of government and the role of local government should be acknowledged through our annual local government indaba on tourism. At this year's indaba, we launched the Tourism Planning Toolkit for local government and presented the National Tourism Growth Strategy to stakeholders.
Further consultation with provinces and municipalities will be undertaken to secure support for the implementation of the toolkit. Capacity-building for tourism planning at local government level, targeted at municipalities that have a high potential for tourism growth, will also be prioritised. The department will continue to contribute to the drive to strengthen our country's skills and human resource base. The Tourism Service Excellence Strategy was launched at the annual National Tourism Conference in November 2008, and an implementation plan is being finalised. The strategy focuses on the upskilling of those involved in service delivery and appropriate training programmes.
In preparation for 2010, 4 030 tourism ambassadors and volunteers are being trained as part of the "Know your country, know your city" project, and additional 1 000 tourism ambassadors will be trained in, amongst others, service excellence. We also successfully hosted the first ever annual Tourism Careers Expo in 2007. More than 17 000 learners, educators, tourism graduates and tourism subject advisors attended and we are looking forward to the next expo to be held later this year.
In the coming year, we will, amongst other things, focus our attention on ensuring that skills development initiatives are aligned to the needs of the industry. We will furthermore continue to promote interventions to deal with geographic spread, local and rural development and job creation.
To our friends in the tourism sector and to all our stakeholders, I would like to say thank you for your hard work. We are, of course, led by the Minister. And we have to give him the accolades he deserves for having led, up to this stage, the success in the tourism industry. Our department is ready to work with all of you to realise the full potential of this industry in building a better life for all. Thank you. [Applause.]