Tourism Minister foresees a record 10 million visitors

Tourism Minister foresees a record 10 million visitors

2010/03/05
Michael Hamlyn


TOURISM Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk has assured South Africans that the country will receive a new record of 10-million foreign visitors this year, but his department’s eyes are now firmly turning to what will happen after the World Cup.
He said that in boosting business and convention tourism, one aim would be to stop Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban from undermining each other when they competed to host events.
He suggested the number of visitors linked to the World Cup would come to between 300000 and 450000, and 34 billion people would watch it globally.
Van Schalkwyk said that after the World Cup, “we cannot rest on our laurels. Historically, we have relied on leisure tourism, but we must diversify if we want to continue the growth we want. Business and convention tourism (are) absolutely vital to us. It makes up 6% of our tourism arrival figures.
“We want to increase that quite considerably. We want in a few years to be one of the top ten convention destinations in the world.” – I-Net Bridge

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