Until racism, which has been raring its ugly head in recent years, has been addressed, tourism will be negatively affected, Tourism Minister Thoko Xasa believes.

Xasa was speaking at the launch of Tourism Month in Mpumalanga this week, where speakers highlighted a number of issues impacting badly on tourism.

Speakers also called for more black people to be involved in the tourism industry.

Xasa said in some parts of the world black people were in charge. “For an example, we visited the USA recently and when we were in Chicago the town was clean and welcoming, and I tell you that the black people there were in charge.

“They run businesses, they run tourism. We need that in our country. Let’s put our focus on the sector, let’s make sure it works for the country,” said Xasa.

“We have 11 languages in our country and people from outside ask how are we working together. We need to keep that, as you can see racism is rife in our circles in this country.”

Xasa said South Africans needed to develop a new appreciation of their country and its offerings in tourism. “We need sustainable tourism for development.”

In addition, South Africans needed to create products that the country could market.

“This week I will buy a Ndebele blanket...and when I am travelling to another province, I will make sure I buy something and expose that product to other countries or areas of the province,” she said.

Xasa said in 1994 South Africa had fewer than three million visitors a year, but currently more than 10 million tourists visited the country annually.

However, she said this represented a mere fraction of the more than one billion travellers around the world.

She said her department wanted to increase the number of tourists visiting the country.

“Many struggle to tap into that, and as South Africa, we have the best in everything; we need to take charge now,” she said.

SA Tourism chief executive Sisa Ntshona said they had a plan to grow tourism. “We have a five-in-five plan, where we want five million new tourists in the next five years,” said Ntshona.

Events like cultural festivals, tourism education and domestic tourism were highlighted as keys to attracting more visitors.

Ntshona said one setback recently was the outbreak of Ebola, which killed thousands of people in West Africa. He said tourists became reluctant to travel to Africa. “That was a setback but we have to build a robust domestic tourism sector, though we have limited resources.”

He said business minds and new ideas were needed in tourism. “We need to prioritise. We now need entrepreneurial minds and we will create that space for those who come with those ideas,” he said. — bonganif@dispatch.co.za