Sept 2011

Explore our beautiful country

Know your Minister: Tourism

September is Tourism Month and with the focus this year on domestic tourism, South Africans are encouraged to discover and explore their own beautiful country.

Domestic tourism, also called internal tourism, refers to people travelling and visiting places in their own country. To encourage domestic tourism, the Minister launched a new campaign in March this year. He also announced the domestic tourism figures for 2010.

Domestic tourism has historically been, and remains, the largest contributor to tourist volume in South Africa with 79 per cent of all tourism in 2010 derived from local people.

Job creation

The Department of Tourism aims to create 225 000 new jobs by 2020. To this end, it also aims to increase the number of foreign arrivals to South Africa from 7 million in 2009 to 15 million by 2020, increase tourism’s total contribution to the economy from R189 billion in 2009 to R499 billion by 2020 and increase the number of domestic tourist from 14,6 million in 2009 to 18 million by 2020.

The Department of Tourism plans various programmes for Tourism Month with special celebrations taking place in Clarens in the Eastern Free State.

General
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