The 2013 State of the Nation Address: A Thematic Analysis Focusing on Tourism Daniel Tevera (PhD) Professor and Head, Department of Geography & Environmental Studies, University of the Western Cape Mark Boekstein (MA) Lecturer, Department of Geography & Environmental Studies University of the Western Cape Paper Presented to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Tourism, Parliament building, Cape Town, 19 February, 2013

Outline Introduction Tourism trends Explict and Implicit References to Tourism Strategic Policy Directions Conclusions and Recommendations

Introduction In his 2013 State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Zuma emphasized that unemployment, poverty and inequality were major national challenges. The President focused on the need to promote economic growth based on infrastructural development and accelerated job creation. The President made repeated references to the National Development Plan. The discussion this morning will engage in a thematic focus of State of the Nation Address. What insights can the tourism sector derive from the SONA?

Tourism Trends Minister Van Schalkwyk has stated that tourism is a vital component of the economy and is a key part of the National Growth Plan. Contribution of tourism to GDP – R190 billion (direct & indirect) or 8% of GDP; R70 billion (direct) It outperforms all other sectors but is underperforming compared to the sector in several countries, some of which are our competitors.

Tourism Trends For example, every 16 arrivals there is 1 job created (Brazil 2.3, Thailand 7.5, Australia 11.2) Average length of stay is 7.5 days (Land =5 days, air = 16 days). Most common length of stay is 2 days (Land = 1 day, Air = 6 days) 14.6 million adults visited different places as domestic tourists in 2010 and spent R22 billion.

Direct References to Tourism in the SONA Two direct references to tourism in the SONA: “We identified tourism as one of our job drivers” “Tourist arrivals grew at an impressive 10.7% between January and September 2012, which is higher than the global average of 4% for last year”

Direct References to Tourism in the SONA Many tourism stakeholders probably expected more focus on tourism, especially whether tourism would be mobilised for poverty reduction and job creation. Which instruments would be used to achieve this?

Direct References to Tourism in the SONA Responses to unscientific survey on references to tourism in the SONA: ‘Expected more focus on tourism’ ‘Would have liked to hear how government plans to promote tourism growth’ ‘mention of cultural heritage indirectly addresses tourism issues’

Strategic Policy Directions National Department of Tourism Strategic Plan for a Period 2011/ /16 Two of the Department’s programmes focus on tourism development and tourism growth and have the following strategic objectives: tourism projects targeted at the unemployed. Improvement of service levels in the tourism industry.

Strategic Policy Directions The National Tourism Strategic Plan for 2011/ /16 highlights a multi-pronged foci on: core markets (attractive and easier markets), tactical markets (less attractive but easier markets), investment markets (attractive but difficult markets), and watch-list markets (less attractive and difficult markets).

Key Questions What the government should do to develop tourism in order to : Increase the share of tourism income to local communities and low income groups? Promote direct economic participation by the poor in the tourism-sector? Promote economic participation by the poor in downstream sectors that supply tourism?

Two Types of Tourism Strategies Heritage Tourism Pro-Poor Tourism

Heritage Tourism Reference to cultural heritage in the SONA is indicative of government’s intention to promote this type of tourism. It attracts tourists who want to experience the culture, history, and arts of the receiving community. It has positive economic and social impacts if well managed. creates jobs, provides new business opportunities, strengthens local economies, and helps to diversify local economies. The White Paper on the Development and Promotion of Tourism in South Africa, 1996 comprehensively addresses heritage tourism issues. The National Tourism Sector Strategy (2010), is explicit about the links between culture and heritage on one hand and tourism development on the other.

Heritage Tourism and Sustainability Issues However, if not properly managed, heritage tourism could have devastating adverse impacts including: Commodification and devaluation of culture and traditions; Displacement of local communities; Resource use conflicts

Sustainable and Pro-Poor Tourism Tourism offers an enormous potential for the creation of jobs and income for the poor and should be an important instrument in poverty reduction strategies. Pro-poor tourism unlocks opportunities for economic gain and other livelihood benefits for the poor Focus on projects that spread benefits and income to communities across the country

Economic engagement of the poor Promoting employment opportunities and hospitality skills of the poor Helping local communities (particularly small- scale farmers and vendors) become part of the supply chain Enabling poor entrepreneurs to operate tourism businesses

Ministry of Tourism, Kenya Challenges Transformation – promote cultural tourism Distribution – extend to less developed provinces Seasonality Risk management Sustainability – especially positioning and re- positioning the brand Competitiveness – how to achieve defferentiation, especially our cultural assets

Conclusions and recommendations Emphasis should have been placed on the inter-sectoral linkages between tourism and national development strategies Heritage tourism needs to be intricately linked with cultural preservation and poverty reduction There is need for a specific and coherent set of planned interventions for mainstreaming a pro poor approach across the tourism sector. There is a great need for quantitative information on the links between tourism and infrastructure, agriculture and natural resources. Tourism is not necessarily the panacea but has the potential to contribute to economic development and poverty reduction in South Africa