Trends: G20 tourism summit to be held in South Africa
- Source: Global Times
- [10:43 November 03 2009]
- Comments
The first meeting of G20 tourism ministers will be held from February 22 to February 24, 2010 in Gauteng, South Africa with the theme, "Travel and Tourism: Stimuli for G20 Economies" as part of the global response to the unprecedented economic changes, according to South African Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk at the 8th annual tourism conference in Emperor's Palace in Johannesburg last Friday.
Van Schalkwyk said tourism had resisted the financial crisis better than other sectors, including construction, real estate and car manufacturing, but the 2009 statistics reflecting international trends showed that a coordinated response was important.
Moreover, South Africa was elected as a member of the executive council of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in Kazakhstan in early October after the UNWTO "Roadmap to Recovery" recognized that tourism provided 75 million direct jobs worldwide to vitalize many small and medium enterprises.
The South African Tourism Department will also host a UNWTO/South Africa summit on tourism, sport and mega-events with the Department of Sport and Recreation from February 24 to February 26, 2010 in Sandton, Johannesburg, which will provide a forum to discuss the impact of mega-events and will be helpful to South Africa's plan for development after the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
South Africa recorded 9.5 million arrivals in 2008, an increase of 5.5 percent compared with that of 2007 and the world's average of 2 percent in 2008. Foreign direct consumption grew by 23.4 percent from $7.5 billion in 2007 to $9.25 billion in 2008. In 2008 there was a 23.5 percent increase in total revenue from tourism in South Africa.
