Official Statement by H.E. High Commissioner Mavivi Myakayaka-Manzini opening of the SAA-High Commission Stand & High Commission Webpage LaunchNamibia Tourism Expo, Windhoek, 29 May 2013.
Your Excellencies Ambassadors and High Commissioners
Members of the diplomatic corps
Representatives of travel agents and travel industry in Namibia
Colleagues from the South African High Commission & SAA office
Members of the Media
Ladies and gentlemen
I am very honored by your presence here tonight.
Together withMs. Juanita Klassen, the Country Manager for South African Airways in Namibia, a very warm welcome to another opening of theSAA-High Commission Stand at this year’s Namibia Tourism Expo 2013. This year is a little different and unique as we are also launching the High Commission’s webpage which goes live tonight.
What I believe is particularly interesting is that we are also trying to have an environmentally conscious and responsible stand this year. No longer will we be handing out bulky paper promotional items in plastic bags to promote South Africa as an attractive tourist and business destination, and for SAA to get you there.
This year we are limiting the paper and plastic to an absolute minimum through the use of screens and the dissemination of information through electronic means, as far as possible. Central to this is the launch of the website which contains useful information about the High Commission, its staff and the services that we provide. It is also a very useful portal into the digital world of South Africa as we market the country and government.
We will also be giving out to interested people DVDs to showcase our tourism, and memory sticks to promote the website and convey some interesting facts about South Africa and SAA products and services.
As you know, SAA is our national flag carrier and for the 11thconsecutive year, voted Africa’s best airline. I am very pleased and proud that SAA continues to provide such a world class service. Indeed, its ongoing success is critical to South Africa’s economic future as it serves to bring Africa and the world to South Africa, and to take South Africa to Africa and the world.
We have a lot of positive things to talk about tonight.
I believe that South Africa continues to make its mark on the international scenewith our status as a premier global destination now firmly entrenched.
In 1993, the country received just over 3.4 million international arrivals. In 2012, we witnessed a staggering 13.8 million international arrivals, of which more than 9 million were tourists. Our overall international tourist arrivals growth in 2012 was over 10%. This was against an average global industry growth of just 4%. Given the state of the global economy, I am sure that you will agree that this is quite remarkable.
We recognize and value the contribution that Namibia and the region makes to this growth and development of our tourism industry. Of the 9 million tourists that we welcomed last year, more than 70% or almost 6.5 million originated from our SADC region.
And with a relatively small population, I am very pleased that Namibia is our 9th largest source of tourism in the world with almost 200,000 visitors to our shores in 2012. Namibia contributed more tourists than China, France, Australia, the Netherlands and India. Only our other 5 immediate neighbours and the UK, the USA and Germany provided more tourists than Namibia.
South Africa is also fast becoming one of the world’s favourite destinations for big events, meetings, conferences and exhibitions, and has proven its credentials to host events of any magnitude as evidenced by the 2010 soccer World Cup in 2012, the Cop 17 Climate Change Conference in 2011, and the recent BRICS Summit.
And it is in this area that I find it very exciting as Namibia is the number 1 source of business tourists for South Africa in the world. In 2012 some twenty five thousand (25,000) tourists visited for business purposes. This was more than from the leading countries in Europe (UK with 21,000), in SADC (Zimbabwe with 17,000), in North America (USA with 11,000), and in Asia (India with 7,000).
We take this opportunity to extent our gratitude to the Namibian tour operators and travel agents who have played a crucial role in promoting these visits to our country.
And as South Africa looks to aggressively pursue a bigger share of the global business tourism market, I think that there are growing opportunities for the industry to tap into. In this regard I think it is important for the industry to take note of the newly-established National Convention Bureau which will be critical in harnessing South Africa’s business tourism efforts. The Bureau will act as a 1-stop shop for independent information and assistance, and will offer neutral advice on all aspects of hosting and organising any business tourism-related event in South Africa. I would urge you to look into this further as it would be in both South Africa and Namibia’s interest to work together to attract more business tourists to our respective countries.
As you know, marketing is an important key to success in promoting your country and its products and services. And here I include government services both domestically and internationally.
I am therefore very proud to be here today to also launch the South African High Commission’s webpage that provides a useful portal into South Africa and its government. I hope that you will find this webpage useful whether you are planning to travel to South Africa, in need of consular services, or simply wanting to learn more about our beautiful country. I encourage you to explore the various links for more information on issues such as trade, investment, tourism, but to name a few.
I will not dwell too much on the content of the webpage as my Deputy will take us through the site very quickly to show you what information and links are available.
Suffice to say, let us raise our glasses and toast to the official opening of the SAA-South African Stand and the launch of the High Commission’s webpage on the internet.
Once again thank you all for coming tonight and I hope you enjoy yourselves.
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