Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Ms Barbara Creecy, delivers keynote address at SANParksTourism Investment Summit
Director General, Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Ms Nomfundo Tshabalala;
SANParks Board Chairperson, Ms Pam Yako and Board Members present;
Deputy Director Generals in the Departments of Tourism as well as Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment;
SANParks Acting CEO Mr Dumisani Dlamini and members of your Executive;
Tourism Industry Partners represented here by their CEO's;
Organised Business and Commerce representatives;
Current Concessioners;
Potential Investors;
Delegates in the room and on the virtual platforms;
Members of the Media;
Esteemed guests;
Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen, I welcome you today to the second South African National Parks Tourism Investment Summit. SANParks held its first Tourism Investment Summit in 2017 as part of its drive to attract a diversity of investors to its Public-Private Partnership Programme; the success of this Summit is evidenced in the number of new private sector partners that have since invested in several business opportunities in the tourism services of our national parks.
Most exciting, is the increase in the number of small and medium sized entrepreneurs who have taken the opportunity to run businesses such as spas, retail and adventure activities for our valued tourists.
Today's event comes a week after the annual South African Investment Conference. The South African Investment Conference, as you may be aware, was launched in 2018 as a Presidential drive to raise R1.2 trillion in new investments over a period of 5 years. We trust that the opportunities we share here today as SANParks, will contribute toward achieving the President's investment ambitions specifically in the ecotourism sector.
The contribution of tourism as a catalyst for the growth of the South African economy cannot be downplayed. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, this sector contributed about 4.5% of total employment in South Africa and 3% to the national GDP. As we are all aware, this status has changed dramatically due to the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the tourism sector.
In 2020, South Africa saw a decline of 72.6% in the volume of tourists; SANParks' own declines in tourist numbers was in many respects a mirror reflection of the declines at national levels.
The damage to the sector is by no means irrevocable ladies and gentlemen. The South African Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan indicates that labour intensive sectors such as the tourism industry are key growth focal points and as such, government in general and of course in particular, Minister Sisulu, is investing significant effort to ensure the post pandemic recovery..
The tourism industry is not only labour intensive and therefore a major job creator when it thrives, it is also an industry that has one of the highest multiplier effects, contributing both directly and indirectly to several other primary and secondary sectors in its value chain. The centrality of the tourism sector in catalysing job creation has to be more prominent now than ever. As we speak, it is against the backdrop of Statistics South Africa's latest report that the official unemployment rate stood at 35.3% in the 4rd Quarter of 2021.
Not only will this sector recover; but I am of the firm view that with our joint, deliberate and focussed efforts it will grow and surpass all previous thresholds.
Communities that live adjacent to national parks are critical stakeholders for SANParks. The majority of national parks are located in rural areas which are characterised by high levels of poverty, unemployment and inequality.
In some of these areas, national parks serve as the only means of economic activity and employment SANParks employs over 4000 employees and its concessionaires, another 2100 employees; over 80% of the employees are recruited from neighbouring communities.
Therefore in many respects, SANParks is one of the state entities that have the ability to play a crucial part in breaking the vicious cycle of underdevelopment in these communities. We have specific interventions in our Public Private Partnership Programme that seek to ensure that the economic inclusion of women and youth is paramount as an outcome, as well as the development of suppliers and enterprises – per annum, our concessionaires or partners in the Private Partnership arrangement spend in the region of R 75 million per annum with local community SMME's more specifically those that leaving in areas adjacent to our national parks.
Our relationship with our communities as protected areas in South Africa has its share of complexities. In South Africa, the very existence of national parks is an outcome of land dispossession ladies and gentlemen, this presents intricacies to our community relations and specific obligations to these communities.
That being said, these are complexities that we as SANParks are committed to resolving by ensuring that in both our conservation and commercial activities, our efforts are channelled toward achieving inclusive growth.
We regard to the land claimant communities in particular as our partners; partners in the management of the parks and conservation of biodiversity and cultural heritage and partners in our commercial tourism activities. As such, as you will come to learn more today, these partners are integral to the manner in which our Public Private Partnerships business model is shaped.
This model also includes the setting aside of tourism products for land claimants, a minimum of ten percent share equity, preferential procurement and provision of the much needed jobs as well as sector-specific training to mention but a few.
A thriving, successful and sustainable network of national parks is thus one that has a multiplicity of areas of high impact for economic growth ladies and gentlemen.
Our core mandate as SANParks is the conservation and protection of biodiversity and cultural heritage.
Biodiversity and healthy ecosystems are some of tourism's greatest assets, its natural capital, and fundamental to its long-term growth; after all, leisure travel is primarily motivated by the opportunity to engage with nature and culture.
Conservation and tourism are therefore interdependent in many respects, when developed and managed in a sustainable and responsible way, tourism can be instrumental in safeguarding biodiversity.
Globally tourism revenue is indispensable to the funding of the protection of biodiversity, it is therefore befitting to conclude as we do at SANParks, that tourism is a biodiversity conservation strategy in the management of national parks.
This means SANParks, as the largest conservation entity in South Africa, is pivotal to the growth and sustainability of the tourism industry in South Africa.
As we continue to reflect on the potential of South Africa's tourism industry, we need to acknowledge that its growth cannot be driven by the private or public sector independently of each other. It is in recognising and exploiting our mutual dependency that we can meaningfully capitalise on each other's strengths.
In his State of the Nation Address this year, the President issued a clarion call for government and the private sector to work within a consensus wherein government creates an enabling economic environment for the growth of the private sector – a sector, which I must add, employs 80% of the total employed citizenry.
The harnessing of the private sector to enhance delivery is not new to SANParks; the organisation has a 22 year track record of managing successful Public-Private partnerships in the provision of tourism services. In the last two decades, SANParks has built a portfolio of 60 PPP's which include accommodation, restaurants, retail, activities, an airport and an aerial cableway.
In these two decades the private sector contribution to the sustainability of SANParks cannot be discounted. At the end of the last financial year ending March 2021, SANParks' PPP cumulative income was R1,394 billion; this has indeed been a mutually beneficial relationship. To underscore this point, concession revenues in SANParks prior to the COVID-19 pandemic showed a year-on-year growth of between 13% and 17%.
The benefits accrued by SANParks are not only limited to the monetary, our private partners have contributed to improved service levels, innovation, commercial dynamism and diversification of product offerings; this in turn this has allowed us to comfortably focus and execute on our core competencies.
As we showcase the 100 business opportunities available in our national parks, SANParks is currently experiencing a recovery of our tourism industry. I must emphasise with gratitude, that this recovery has been solely on the back of domestic tourism.
We are cautiously optimistic about the rebound of the international tourism market. Though not more important than the domestic market, we have to acknowledge that it has intrinsic merits which include higher spend and longer stays. The UNWTO World Tourism Barometer indicates that rising rates of vaccination, combined with easing of travel restrictions due to increased cross-border coordination and protocols, have all helped release pent up demand which bodes well for international tourism to our country.
And so Ladies and Gentlemen we are optimistic that we can now look forward to the revival of the era where SANParks was relatively self-funding, generating 80% of its operational budget through tourism revenue. An era where our private partners thrived in concert with us. We are convinced that this time is nigh, and I therefore confidently encourage you to explore the investment opportunities that SANParks is showcasing as the returns are guaranteed.
I think it is appropriate as I conclude to leave you with the words of His Excellency President Ramaphosa who said at last week's Fourth Infrastructure investment conference, and I quote:
"We therefore invite you to be part of South Africa's growth story. We invite you to be part of a young, dynamic, resilient nation positioning itself at the forefront of progress and change. We are forging ahead to transform our economy, to unlock our country's potential and to create meaningful livelihoods for all our people. And we are determined to leave no one behind".
I thank you.
Artmotion S.Africa
