Western Cape Business 2017 edition

MESSAGE
Growth strategy is paying off
Alan Winde, Western Cape Provincial Minister of Economic Opportunities,
explains how Project Khulisa will impact the province.
Alan Winde, Western Cape
Provincial Minister of
Economic Opportunities
In the Western Cape, we have
taken a focused approach to
job creation and growth.
To achieve this objective
we have put in place our Project
Khulisa growth strategy, which
focuses on a set of high-potential
sectors, namely tourism, agriprocessing
and oil and gas.
In each of these areas, we worked with the private sector to develop
tailored action plans to drive growth.
I am happy to report that we are making significant progress.
Tourism employs 204 000 people, and under Project Khulisa we
have set ourselves the goal of adding up to a further 100 000 jobs
to the sector. Through Project Khulisa we are focusing on driving an
increase in leisure and business tourism.
The Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) continues
to deliver a significant contribution to economic growth. That is why
we are doubling the CTICC’s capacity. We’ve also seen a R1-billion
private investment into the Century City Conference Centre and Hotel.
The Aquarium added a conference facility when it upgraded and
many hotels are doing the same. A large number of hotels are being
developed, partly in response to increased conference numbers, but
also in response to general good growth figures in this space.
We know that conference delegates have a higher spend than
leisure tourists, and that they often return for a holiday with their
families. From here, they could purchase property in the region, or
decide to open a business here.
It is all interlinked. On the leisure front, we are driving an events
strategy to pull tourists to our smaller gem towns. From our investment
in seeding events, we have helped drive 150 000 tourists to travel in the
region, generating an economic impact of R240-million. Very shortly
we’ll be embarking on a project to define the competitive identity of
our region, creating a compelling story about who we are, what we
have to offer, and why we should be at the top of travellers’ bucket lists.
We’ll take the outcome of this process to market in 2017.
We are continuing with our plans to position the province as the
trail capital of Africa. This year we launched the first part of our cycle
track, which will eventually stretch from Plettenberg Bay to Cape Town.
The first 5km of the cycle route consists of bespoke-designed single
track on a section of land between Knysna and Sedgefield.
This track will become the backbone of a trail system driving
business to farms and communities all along our southern coastline.
We will also focus on culture and heritage tourism, food and wine
tourism, and our growing events economy.
In agri-processing, we are seeking to grow the size of the sector
and add up to 100 000 jobs.
Our plan to boost the sector includes efforts to increase halal
and wine exports, and to create an enabling environment for all
WESTERN CAPE BUSINESS 2017
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