08/09/2020
The sharp decrease in COVID-19 cases from 58 % in the month of June to 9 % in August and the sharp decrease in COVID-19 fatalities from 51 % in June to 11 % in the month of August is a good case for us to fully re-engage the government machinery to implement government priorities. We feel this is also the right time for national government to consider moving us to alert level 1 with the sole purpose of fully reviving the domestic economy.
As this month of September is dedicated to promote tourism in our national calendar, for us tourism is a niche sector that we intended to use as a launch pad for our economic recovery.
For tourism to benefit our province, and inject growth to our economy, we have to work together as the people of the province in positioning the Eastern Cape, ensuring that our visitors get the best experience so that we can attract more business, sporting events and people for leisure travel.
We are focusing on regaining and sustaining our market share by marketing and promoting Eastern Cape offerings that will attract people into our province. Before COVID-19 we targeted to attract 3 million visitors by 2025 increasing to 4.3 million by 2030. Our domestic tourism baseline was 1.9 million tourists and to achieve the set 3million target means growing by 200 000 tourists per annum, a vision that remains a priority for the sector.
A similar case exists for international tourists, before COVID-19 we had a baseline of 400 000 visitors per annum and we were planning to increase this by 100 000 visitors per annum as per our agreement with the South African Tourism agency, but due to COVID-19 pandemic we have not received international visitors since the start of the national lockdown. Our focus is then to ensure that once international travel is allowed again, we implement our sector recovery plans to reach the set target through collaboration with social partners
Today, we want to announce that the Executive Council has approved the provincial tourism strategy for the period 2020-2025 that we will implement to contribute towards the attainment of the 5 % economic growth we want to reach by 2030. We have also approved a new brand positioning for our province; which is Eastern Cape Yours to Explore! Together with a new destination logo that connects us to the national brand identity. The new brand squarely places our province in the same zone as other local destinations that have long aligned themselves with the national tourism brand identity.
Our tourism strategy is premised on making the Eastern Cape a premier African destination that connects people to authentic experiences unique to our province. This is what we are promoting now that the tourism sector has been allowed to trade.
Now that we are in spring, our target is to promote domestic travelling as it is the only component of the tourism sector that is allowed at the present moment. This gives the people of our province and this country an opportunity to travel locally and enjoy our Short Left experiences. I know many people frequent Hogsback, our venue for the launch of our Tourism Month Programme.
We encourage our people to book their trips now before tourism establishments are fully booked for the Festive Season. Surely, there is going to be a huge rush for families to travel after people spent more than 5 months locked in their homes during the national lockdown. The sooner people book their trips the better or else those who snooze will definitely lose. Local travelling puts bread on the table for the families of people who work in our hospitality and tourism facilities, while our tourism products offer value for money experiences for tourists.
We encourage local travelers to change their normal ways of sleeping at a friend’s house or being accommodated by families and explore explore the beauty of our province by booking into a BnBs, hotels and guest houses. Our enterprising entrepreneurs are there to give you an authentic experience.
We want to assure our local travelers that we are reopening the tourism sector under the strict health and safety precautions in light of the COVID-19 virus. All our tourism product owners are privy to the health protocols they must follow to protect themselves and their guests.
We remain committed to support the tourism sector to prosper on two fronts. The first one has been on facilitating access to the R200 million COVID-19 Tourism Relief Fund for local operators that has benefited 457 tourism enterprises that were affected by the national lockdown in our province. This has given the enterprises a major boost ahead of the opening of the sector to trade and serve domestic travellers. An additional 182 EC registered tour guides & freelance guides without job security qualified to date for the R30 million Tour guide relief fund.
Secondly, we continue to advance development of tourism in rural areas through investment support into facilities, services and programmes to benefit local people.
Part of the development we are putting into place includes massive infrastructure upgrades such as roads, water, network connectivity and electricity to ensure that our guests enjoy their stay in our province.
There are four major tourism infrastructure projects that are planned for the province for the near future. Some of them are at design and feasibility stages. These are:
• The R190 million investment into the construction of a new state of the art lodge and Villas at the uMkhambathi Nature Reserve through a partnership between Mkhambathi Land Trust, Private Investor (Collin Bell of Mkhambathi Matters) and the Eastern Cape government through the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency. This investment brings the local villagers into the mainstream of the tourism economy through ownership, creating opportunities for local businesses during the construction phase and providing jobs for the locals.
• The second one is the R42 million investment opportunity for a private operator at the proposed new guest houses that will cater for both conferencing and leisure at Cape Morgan Nature Reserve.
• The third one is the R300 million proposed Port St Johns Cable Car in the same form of the one that operates in Table Mountain for sightseeing that will attract more tourists.
• The fourth one relates to the R21 million 6 Day Hiking Trail and Infrastructure Development projects at Selected Beaches in Mbizana Local Municipality; Port St Johns Municipality; Nyandeni Local Municipality as well as Ndlambe Local Municipality. In addition to this there is a R57 million Baviaanskloof World Heritage Site (WHS) Interpretive Centre project that is planned in Willowmore.
These are major projects that could transform the tourism landscape in our province and create sustainable jobs for people who reside in rural communities. They will augment the work that is being done in the water fronts of Buffalo City and Nelson Mandela Metro and position our Province as a one stop tourism destination where people can experience our un-spoilt coastline, adventure sites, natural wonders and learn about the heritage and culture of our people. Indeed the Eastern Cape is for Yours to Explore!
