Tourism focus a numbers game
New boss spells out strategies and objectives
NEWLY appointed SA Tourism chief executive Sisa Ntshona is hard at work charting a new course for one of the country’s most important economic sectors. Ntshona was previously the president of the Enterprise Development Council of SA and head of enterprise development at Absa bank.
The tourism boss, who was born and raised in New Brighton, Port Elizabeth, was back in his home city on Thursday, where he was guest speaker at the Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism’s annual meeting.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event after less than two months in the national tourism hot seat, the amicable Ntshona outlined his overall strategy and objectives for the industry and tackled some of the pressing issues facing the sector.
“The overall approach we are taking for tourism includes addressing business sustainability in the sector and increased cooperation with players in the industry, all towards achieving greater contributions to the country’s development goals and inclusive growth,” he said.
His primary goals include expanding the business and leisure tourist market in South Africa.
Ntshona also emphasised the importance of increasing domestic tourism, which he said was critical to growing the sector, balancing the industry as a whole and ensuring sustainability during periods when international tourism numbers were down.
“We will be doing this by the numbers,” he said.
“We will be using all the data and market intelligence available to drive our strategies and action plans going forward.
“So analytics, which I firmly believe in as a critical tool, will play a major role in all of our activities.
“The numbers and market intelligence will be critical to ... attracting international tourists.
“We want to avoid the shotgun approach and, based on research, design tailor-made marketing and messaging packages for each individual market we want to attract.
“Take Angola for example. We understand that Angolans like to shop when they travel, so we need to market shopping experiences to them.” Addressing what some economic experts believe may have dire consequences for the tourism and hospitality industry – the government’s recently proposed R3 500 minimum wage – Ntshona called for a balanced approach from the government.
“Naturally, we recognise the importance of a minimum wage for the poor and to address inequality, among other [things],” he said.
“[But] the minimum wage needs to be considered against unintended consequences, such as potential job losses.
“A legislated minimum wage could have an impact on the hospitality industry, in particular, which, in South Africa, has traditionally seen low wages, unlike in other countries where employment in the industry is seen as a professional occupation.
“I also believe there is an opportunity for society to help police and [act against] any labour abuse.
“By this, I mean that society and individual consumers can support [ethically sound] businesses or businesses that treat their staff well and remunerate them appropriately, and withdraw support from those which don’t.
“We have all seen how social media can impact on businesses and these tools can be used by society to ensure that businesses are operating in an acceptable manner.”
Turning to the controversial administrative requirements to enter South Africa, which have been blamed for a significant drop in international tourist numbers, Ntshona said SA Tourism was addressing the issues with the government.
“I understand the reasons why they introduced those entry requirements, but we really need to find a balanced approach which does not impact negatively on the tourism industry,” he said.
Describing the Bay and its surrounding tourism offerings as a “hidden gem” which needed to be profiled appropriately to a number of different tourist markets, Ntshona said SA Tourism took a 360-degree approach in that it considered all the individual offerings in the country when marketing South Africa to business and leisure tourists.
“We can’t just, for example, market our beaches as a blanket approach,” he said.
“We want to market very specific offerings or types of tourism, whether it be eco or cultural tourism, to very specific markets.”