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Programme Director,
Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Mr. Valli Moosa
Honourable Ministers and MECs
Members of the Provincial Legislatures
Chief Executive Officer SA Tourism, MS Cheryl Carolus
Representatives of Local Government and District Councils,
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen:

On behalf of the people of the Northern Cape, I would like to thank you most sincerely for the honour you have extended to us to stage this important event in our Province and hope that you will immensely enjoy our environmental beauty, incredible heritage and spectacular landscape.

The hosting of this event clearly demonstrates our assertion that the Northern Cape Province has the capacity to host national events of any magnitude.

It therefore gives me great pleasure, to invite every citizen of the country on a journey of discovery to explore and experience our wonderful natural and human constructed beauty of the province.

The Northern Cape boasts a diversity of tourism attractions, including ethnic, cultural, adventure and wildlife and economic development opportunities.

As a tourist destination, it is completely different to other destinations in South Africa. Not only is it completely different from other destinations in the country, but also a destination full of uncanny surprises, in fact downright irony. It is the province with the most national parks in South Africa - six in total with the seventh one being developed as we speak.

It offers so much that is in abundance, precious and unique. We have the natural wonders of the flowers of the Namakwa, waterfalls, the mysterious mountainous desert of the Richtersveldt, the rugged desert wildlife of the Kalahari, the vast landscapes of the Karoo and the indigenous people such as Nama, Griqua, Khomani San, !Xu and Khwe . It is also a warm friendly and safe place that welcomes visitors with open arms.

Programme Director,

World Tourism Day which is celebrated around the world each year provides us with an ideal opportunity to recognise the importance of tourism, and to mobilise all our people to play an active role in matters of tourism.

Indeed, It is a day in which we can concentrate on our many strengths, on our shared sense of purpose and hopes for the future, on the many wonderful resources and beautiful places with which our country and continent is gifted, on the diverse faces and experiences that, collectively, make up our soul as a nation.

Let me also take this opportunity to encourage all South Africans to go out and discover the beauty of South Africa and enjoy the tourism products that are available in this part of the country.

We are doing so, because we have also noted that members of previously disadvantaged communities are still not coming through in sufficient numbers as product owners of mainstream tourist offerings such as guesthouses, game lodges, transport operators, restaurant owners, etc.

I again call on mainstream tourism product owners to assist government's efforts to extend their skills and opportunities to members of previously disadvantaged communities, to share it with them, especially in the spirit of Tourism Month - a spirit which must not be allowed to diminish once September 2003 has passed.

Tourism is a people-oriented industry, which serves the people by the people themselves. Based on the world and regional trend, tourism has emerged to play a role as a fastest growing industry and to become a driving force to boost the world economy at present and in the future.

The direct and indirect income from tourism greatly contributes to the national economy such as earning foreign currency, creating job opportunity to the people, and alleviating poverty

The Northern Cape provincial government is intent on fostering a winning economy and a spirit of entrepreneurship and economic freedom in our province. We are assuring a new path of growth development and job creation, creating a better life for all our people in the process.

Indeed, we are delighted to announce that the Tourism Entrepreneurship Programme (TEP) finally established an office in Kimberley as a sign of their dedication to grow and develop emerging tourism entrepreneurs in the Northern Cape. This will go a long way to fast-tract the transformation of, and redress imbalances in the provincial tourism industry.

In terms of Tourist guide training, we are conducting training for previously disadvantaged communities in Riemvasmaak and Mier. More tourist guides from previously disadvantaged communities will be trained from October 2003 in Namaqualand and in the Richtersveld. The guiding sector in the Northern Cape will be fully transformed with 90% of all registered tourist guides in the Province coming from previously disadvantaged communities by the end of Tourism Month 2003.

Primarily, tourism is central to economic development and job creation. Certain employment opportunities are directly attributable to tourism and numerous other jobs are indirectly dependent upon tourism activities.

In essence, tourism can provide jobs in areas where other forms of employment may not be readily available, and for groups such as women and young people who tend to experience difficulty in finding work.

In this regard, tourism development must be sustainable in the long-term.

It must not only be economically sustainable so that steady employment and incomes are provided for our peoples but also environmentally sustainable, which means preserving, in the interest of present and future generations, the assets that human and nature have created.

During the World Tourism Indaba President Thabo Mbeki said the following "I undertake that as Africans, we will do everything we can to protect our flora and fauna; to protect our rivers and seas; to develop our roads, ports and airports; to protect the great African heritage in the arts, culture and architecture."

It is with that resolve that we committed ourselves to preserve our natural heritage for future generations to come.

Never before has tourism offered us such possibilities. We believe that, with international support, tourism can become one of the corner stones in the generation of sustained economic growth so critical to the building of our nation.

In conclusion, I would like to applaud, appreciate and thank the staff of the Northern Cape Tourism Authority, provincial department of economic affairs and tourism, as well as other government related tourism staff and product owners in the province for their contribution to develop and promote the Northern Cape tourism industry, as well as for your efforts to make sure that the national celebration of Tourism Month 2003 is taking place in the Northern Cape

I thank you

Issued by the Northern Cape Provincial Government, 26 September 2003