Environmental Affairs and Tourism to participate at Tourism Indaba, 9 to 12 May

Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) to participate at Tourism Indaba

6 May 2009

The launch of the Tourism Satellite Account, a Tourism Products Spatial Viewer and the departure of the Boundless Southern Africa expedition across nine Southern African countries are some of the key events that the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) will be involved in during Tourism Indaba 2009.

The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) will participate extensively at the upcoming Tourism Indaba taking place from 9 to 12 May at the Chief Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre (ICC) in Durban.

The department will exhibit at the Durban Exhibition Centre Hall 1DECD015 under the theme Lets Play Ball: Tourism working towards 2010.

DEAT in conjunction with the Tourism Enterprise Programme (TEP) will host a workshop for the Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMME) in the tourism sector. The SMME workshop will provide 300 attendees with an opportunity to interact with the various stakeholders and institutions ahead of the formal Indaba exhibitions and proceedings. The workshop will take place on 8 May from 9h30 to 12h30 in Room 22 at the ICC.

A key event on the Indaba calendar is the launch of the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA). The TSA is an internationally approved United Nation (UN) World Trade Organisation (WTO) tool that measures the economic contribution of tourism across all sectors of the economy. The work is the result of extensive research conducted by Statistics South Africa (SA), the Reserve Bank, DEAT and South African Tourism.

Media launch of TSA
Date: Saturday, 9 May 2009
Time: 11h00 to 12h00
Venue: Room 22, ICC

Technical workshop as above from 14h00 until 15h30

The Tourism Products Spatial Viewer will be launched by DEAT at the DEAT exhibition stand on Sunday, 10 May at 18h00. The viewer is a tool for mapping graded establishments and other tourism products within South Africa. This is a tool that will be used by tourists during the 2009 Confederation Cup, 2010 Soccer World Cup and beyond.

Media launch of Tourism Products Spatial Viewer
Date: Sunday, 10 May 2009
Time: 18h00 to 20h00
Venue: DEAT Exhibition stands (Durban Exhibition Centre Hall 1DECD015)

Indaba is also the venue that will see the exciting Boundless Southern Africa expedition embark on a four month long trip across nine Southern African countries. The expedition aims to raise maximum awareness about the tourism and investment opportunities in the seven Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) in Southern Africa. The 10 000 kilometre expedition led by Kingsley Holgate of National Geographic will cover nine countries, seven Transfrontier Conservation Areas and 30 National Parks and Nature Reserves. In 2005, the Ministers of Tourism of the nine South African Development Community (SADC) countries of Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe, endorsed a TFCA Development Strategy for 2010 and beyond.

Media launch of Boundless Southern Africa Expedition
Date: Monday, 11 May 2009
Time: 08h45 to 11h00
Venue: Hilton Hotel

For further information on the expedition visit www.boundlesssa.com

Media interested in attending the specific media events can contact:
Nthabiseng Mphela
Tel: 012 310 3203
Cell: 082 823 3695

Judith van der Merwe
Tel: 012 310 3309
Cell: 082 321 2617

For media enquiries contact:
Albi Modise
Cell: 083 490 2871

Roopa Singh
Cell: 082 225 3076

Issued by: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
6 May 2009
Source: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (http://www.deat.gov.za)