Durban - KwaZulu-Natal has been excluded from the country’s tourism marketing strategies and has to accept that it needs to fight its own battle, Tourism MEC Mike Mabuyakhulu said.
Addressing stakeholders at the Durban ICC about his proposed 10 percent tourism levy, a frustrated Mabuyakhulu said the province had no option but to set up its own fund – known as the Bid Support Fund – to market the province and assist it in bidding for major business events.
“This will allow us to box for ourselves. Because if we don’t, who is going to box for us? Who is going to bid for us?” he said.
Mmatsatsi Ramawela, chief executive of Tourism Marketing South Africa (Tomsa) – which collects levies from tourism businesses for marketing tourism in the country – acknowledged that engagement was needed between the province and SA Tourism to make sure everyone benefited.
However, when a Tomsa board member suggested that the provincial industry made an effort to sell the province’s offerings and brands to SA Tourism, Mabuyakhulu responded: “And then they decide what national (tourism) icon they put there (promote).”
While he had “no issue with the Tomsa levy”, Mabuyakhulu said it did not benefit tourism in KZN.
Most stakeholders agreed that the one percent levy they were paying towards the marketing of tourism in the country had no direct benefit for the province, and they therefore did not support an additional levy.
Although they believed KZN had been shortchanged by the country’s marketing efforts and needed a strategy that would benefit the province’s tourism, they said they could not afford an additional levy.
Implementing a 10 percent levy would mean significantly increasing their prices which, they said, would put them – and tourism in the province – out of the market.
Mabuyakhulu remained firm, however, saying that not introducing the levy would mean that tourism in the province would not grow due to national government budget cuts. “We feel we need a bid support fund to aggressively bid for business tourism events… Private sector support and funding is crucial. Government cannot achieve the goals alone.”
Among the goals for 2020, the MEC said, was for the KZN industry to directly employ more than 180 000 people, generate more than R70-billion, and achieve a 3.5 percent increase in business tourism.
Other goals included:
l Increasing the provincial tourism budget to more than R300 million in order to remain competitive; and
l Securing one large international event the size and calibre of the World Cup and Commonwealth games.
Mabuyakhulu emphasised that the department would also be coming to the party.
“We have always put our money where our mouth is, and we are playing our part. We are not just sitting on the sidelines and asking the private sector to contribute.”
He said the bid support fund would target events that generated strong financial returns on investment while also addressing seasonality, improving geographic spread and spatial development, and enhancing transformation.
“We need to rethink our approach if we want to be the destination we desire to be,” Mabuyakhulu said.
A bid support committee comprising representatives from government entities and private sector bodies is expected to be set up by the end of September. The committee will determine how the fund will be structured and establish models for accountability and transparency.
It is hoped they will be able to report back with recommendations and implementation time frames by November.
Fund contributions will start from April 1, 2015.
The Mercury