The White Paper on the Development and Promotion of Tourism in South Africa has been approved for public comment by Cabinet.

This is according to Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni who addressed the media following the Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday.

The Minister said the policy aims to increase tourism’s ‘contribution to the South African economy through increased volume of visitors’.

‘In 2023, Cabinet approved the publication of the Green Paper…and the comments from affected parties were incorporated into this draft policy. This White Paper now provides an agreed policy framework and guidelines for tourism development and promotion in South Africa.

‘This policy will promote entrepreneurship in the tourism sector and ensure the sector’s enhanced contribution to employment,’ she said.

Furthermore, the policy proposals also on ‘aligning the tourism policy with current government policy frameworks and to enhance the sector’s resilience and ability to respond to crisis’.

Astro-tourism

Nts
havheni told the media briefing that Cabinet had also approved the publication of the National Astro-Tourism Strategy and implementation plan for public comment.

‘The strategy aims to position South Africa as a world class astro-tourism destination and this will boost economic development and employment in the tourism sector. South Africa is the first African nation to develop a national astro-tourism strategy and this will boost the country’s tourism diversification,’ she said.

The strategy focuses on various pillars including:

Infrastructure development

Optimising astronomy tourism streams

Public/private partnerships

Inclusive tourism and transformation.

‘South Africa boasts several advantages that make it an ideal astro-tourism destination. This includes the unpolluted night skies and favourable weather conditions.

‘The Department of Tourism in collaboration with the Department of Science and Innovation will launch the National Astro-Tourism Strategy at the national Tourism Day celebrations
on the 27th of September where the Square Kilometre Array is located,’ Ntshavheni said.

Source: South African Government News Agency