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Members of the travel trade fraternity were witness to an address by the Tourism Minister of South Africa, Derek Hanekom at the inaugural ceremony of the recently concluded BRICS Convention on Tourism in Khajuraho on September 1, 2016.
While thanking the Government of India for taking the initiative to host such a historic convention, the minister hoped for a greater cooperation and collaboration among the BRICS countries to make tourism a ‘thriving force for economic and social development’.
Highlighting tourism’s contribution towards the same, Hanekom added, “In South Africa, tourism now contributes 9% of our GDP, and supports about one in every 10 jobs across the entire value chain. We believe we can grow this contribution even further by developing a strong domestic tourism economy and transforming our sector to become more inclusive of all our people. This forms the basis of our developmental agenda, along with training our people and enhancing our destination.”
The minister further elaborated on the socio-cultural and environmental purpose of tourism. “We know that when people from diverse cultural backgrounds interact and engage with each other, greater understanding and tolerance is forged among the people of the world. For developing countries, the sense of pride and belonging which successful tourism can instill in our citizens can be a powerful force for building nationhood, alongside building the economy and enhancing our national infrastructure,” he said.
South African Tourism has lifted requirement of ‘in-person’ visa applications in China. They have also introduced various measures to facilitate visa access in India. The results have been most encouraging as they no see seeing extraordinary growth in tourist arrivals from China and India. The nation is also proposing to the establishment of a BRICS Tourism Working Stream that includes the public and the private sectors within countries. This will focus on strategic issues that grow tourism sustainably and contribute to the social and economic advancement of all our countries.
Sourse: travelnewsdigest.in
