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WOMEN IN BUSINESS SUMMIT“VAYA MZANSI”:Creatingopportunitiesfor women throughdomestictourismTourism is undoubtedly one of thetools that can contribute to a justnation with equal opportunities.Tourism has the potential to helpimprove livelihoods by alleviatingpoverty, improving environmentalsustainability as well as promotinggender equality and empoweringwomen. By encouraging more womento participate, we will ensure that wereduce the gaps, says Tokozile Xasa,Deputy Minister of Tourism.16 I S S U E 1
WOMEN IN BUSINESS SUMMITAccording to the United Nations,70% of the approximately1,3 billion people who live inabsolute poverty across the globe arewomen. The overwhelming majorityof labour that sustains life – growingfood, cooking, raising children,caring for the elderly, maintaininghouseholds – is work done by women,and often, they are caught at a verylow status. However, behind thesevery statistics are those women whoare making great strides againstadversity. It therefore remains criticalthat, as women, we do not wait formen to talk about our emancipation;for men to sit and analyse the policiesand the legislation that have been putin place, and whether, in fact, thesepolicies and laws are assisting us inmoving forward.I add my voice to that of ourPresident, Mr Jacob Zuma, who, inhis Women’s Day celebratory address,paid tribute to all South Africanwomen, especially those who showedresilience against pass laws, severerepression, the violence that engulfedour townships during the 1980sand 1990s, arrests, tortures and allsorts of violations of human dignity.As women in the ANC, we mustcontinue to advocate the creation of aunited and non-racial, non-sexist anddemocratic society; the advancementof women’s struggle for change, and,most importantly, the need for womenempowerment.We need to draw lessons from themany countries that are doing wellin empowering women, and use thoselessons to assist us in achieving theMillennium Development Goals. Weneed to encourage more women toparticipate to ensure that we reducethe gaps – be they in education, inpolitical participation, in employmentopportunities; to ensure society-wideoutcomes for the benefit of all.One of the sectors that could bringabout such outcomes is tourism.When looking at the performanceof tourism globally, it is one ofthe fastest-growing sectors of theeconomy following manufacturing,the automotive industry and mining.In South Africa too, tourism isexperiencing immense growth,which is why, through the NewGrowth Path, it has been identifiedas one of the six growth sectors of thelocal economy.Tourism is widely regarded asan important vehicle to enhanceeconomic development and tocontribute to the mitigation ofthe existing problems of poverty,inequality and unemployment. Thishas led the National Departmentof Tourism to develop a NationalTourism Sector Strategy, and thepast year has been its first year ofimplementation. Very ambitioustargets have been set, which hold thepotential to boost the South Africaneconomy significantly, increasingtourism’s contribution to the economyfrom R189 billion in 2009 to aboutR499 billion by 2020. That in itselfshould lead to the creation of about225 000 jobs. Performance thus farhas been encouraging: We have beencontributing more than 8% to grossdomestic product, and we have set outto double that by 2020.Tourism is therefore undoubtedlyone of the tools that can contribute toa just nation with equal opportunities.The strength of tourism is thatit can help improve livelihoodsby alleviating poverty, improvingenvironmental sustainability as wellas promoting gender equality andempowering women. A living exampleof this is when, in the last week, wewere celebrating the achievementof a woman in the tourism industrywho received the Shoprite CheckersWoman of the Year award for hercontribution to economic development.She started out with about 28 roomsin her establishment, and today,she employs about 130 people, 78 ofwhom are full-time, with more than150 rooms in her hotel. Therefore,many lives have been changed for thebetter. What has become evident onmy travels through the country is thatmany women are participating in thetourism industry. After all, tourism isthe creator of close to a million directand indirect jobs in our country.This has led to all of us venturingonto diverse pathways to offer womenopportunities. The strategy thatwe, as the National Department ofTourism, have developed, the NationalTourism Sector Strategy, seeks to openup opportunities, identifying nichemarkets through which we can growtourism. One of these opportunitiesis domestic tourism. The DomesticTourism Growth Strategy seeksto encourage South Africans to betourists in their own country. Thefact that South African small andmedium-sized enterprises are growingindicates that more South Africansare becoming active players in theeconomy, thus acquiring the means totravel. We encourage these people toexplore the wonders on their doorstepand to appreciate what South Africahas to offer. We are already makingserious inroads in this regard, notleast through our national marketingcampaign “Vaya Mzansi” under thetagline “Whatever you’re looking for,it’s right here”.But, you may ask, how wouldSouth Africans travelling the countryimprove the livelihoods of women inneed? The answer is twofold: Firstly,in moving from one province toanother, local business people couldidentify opportunities for furtherinvestment and further developmentto grow their businesses. Suchdiversification could assist in bringingthe rural areas into the fold, bringingabout much-required infrastructure,creating more products, and thereforealso jobs for our people. Secondly,more domestic tourists offer anopportunity to develop more tourismproducts, again implying more jobs. Inthat way, we may counter the flood ofmigration to urban areas in search ofthe ever-elusive job, leaving childrenand other loved ones behind, living inappalling conditions in a shack in anattempt to make ends meet. ✥Progressive women in business 17
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