
4 May 2012
Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk has called on South Africans to explore their own country and experience the variety, beauty and world-class service that draws millions of international tourists here every year.
Van Schalkwyk was speaking in Cape Town on Wednesday at the launch of his department’s new domestic tourism growth strategy, which includes South African Tourism’s new domestic marketing campaign under the tagline, “Whatever you are looking for, it’s right here in South Africa”.
‘It’s right here in South Africa’
“Here in South Africa, we have breathtakingly beautiful scenery, a treasure trove of cultures to explore, and fascinating people to meet,” Van Schalkwyk said. “We have wonderful cities, which offer some of the best urban leisure experiences in the world.
“We have variety and diversity. We have outstanding and capable tourism infrastructure. The rest of the world comes to enjoy the offerings that are available to us on our doorstep,” the minister said.
“Our message to South Africans who seek world-class destinations to relax in, have an adventure in and to explore is that they will find what they are looking for ‘Right here in South Africa’.”
Aiming to double domestic travel by 2020
The department has set itself the ambitious target of 54-million domestic trips by 2020, in an attempt to grow domestic tourism’s contribution to the country’s gross domestic product (GD) to 60 percent of tourism’s overall contribution.
The minister said a total of 26.4-million domestic trips were taken in 2011, against 29.7-million in 2010. However, the number of adult South Africans who travelled domestically grew to 13.9-million in 2011, three percent more than the 13.5-million who took domestic trips in 2010.
The average spend per domestic trip grew to R780 per trip in 2011, from an average of R710 per trip in 2010.
Source: BuaNews