Volume II - The Northern Cape Provincial Spatial Development ...

Northern Cape PSDF
Volume 2
Office of the Premier &
Department of Rural Development & Land Reform
December 2011
• In terms of total foreign visitors, 1.3% visited the Northern Cape in 2008, which was a 1.2%
decline from 2.5% in 2007. The Northern Cape consequently received the least significant
number of foreign tourists.
The Northern Cape is a unique part of South Africa that has a lot on offer for the tourist. Tourist
destinations abound in the Northern Cape, and attract a large number of local and international
visitors. Tourist attractions range from nature and wildlife conservation destinations, natural
wonders, historic sites, festivals, cultural sites, stars gazing, adventure tourism, agricultural
tourism, ecotourism, game farms, hunting areas, etc.
Although the tourism offering is already well developed and there has been considerable
investment in infrastructure in recent years, the potential for Northern Cape to capture more of
the domestic and international tourism market is immense. According to the 15‐year review of
the Northern Cape published in March 2009, tourist numbers into the province have shown a
steady rise over the last five years, with the biggest percentage increase occurring in the third
quarter of 2006, namely 4.1%. Bed nights sold decreased in more recent times due to the global
recession, but the overall picture for tourism in the Northern Cape looks good. The sector’s direct
contribution to provincial gross domestic product (PGDP) is about 6%.
According to the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), tourism is ‘number one in the
international services trade’ counting for 40 % of global trade in services and 6 % of total world
trade 61 . It is important to emphasise the following aspects of the tourism industry (Ferguson,
2007) 62 :
a) The tourism industry directly provides approximately 3 % of the global employment, or 192
million jobs – equivalent to one in every twelve jobs in the formal sector. The International
Labour Organisation (ILO) predicts that this share is likely to rise to 251.6 million jobs by
2010, or one in every eleven formal sector jobs.
b) Tourism also has an indirect impact beyond employment through tourism‐related goods
and services, air travel and global consumption patterns. The relevance of tourism for
61 Over the past six decades, tourism has experienced continued growth and diversification to become one of the
largest and fastest growing economic sectors in the world. Tourism has become one the major international
trade categories. Today, the export income generated by international tourism ranks fourth after fuels,
chemicals and automotive products. For many developing countries, it is one of the main income sources and
the number one category, creating much needed employment and opportunities for development. The
following key figures illustrate the growth of the global tourism industry:
a) From 1950 to 2007, international tourist arrivals grew from 25 million to 903 million (up 6.6% on 2006).
b) The overall export income generated by these arrivals (international tourism receipts and passengers
transport) grew at a similar pace, outgrowing the world economy, exceeding US$ 1 trillion in 2007, or almost
US$ 3 billion a day.
c) Between 1995 and 2007 growth averaged over 4% a year, in spite of the stagnation between 2001 and 2003
due to terrorism, SARS and the economic downturn.
d) By 2010, international arrivals are expected to reach 1 billion, and 1.6 billion by 2020.
e) In 2007, just over half of all international tourist arrivals were motivated by leisure, recreation and holidays
(51%) – a total of 458 million. Business travel accounted for some 15% (138 million), and 27% represented
travel for other purposes, such as visiting friend and relatives, religious seasons/pilgrimages, health
treatment, etc. (240 million). The purpose of visit for the remaining 7% of arrivals was not specified.
f) The African continent was one of the best performers in 2007, with a growth of 7% to 44 million arrivals. The
region confirmed its good momentum averaging 7% growth a year since 2000. International tourism receipts
increased by 8% (in real terms) and reached US$ 28 billion (UNWTO, 2008: Tourism Highlights 2008 –
www.unwto.org).
62 Ferguson L 2007: The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (Abstract). New Political Economy. 12(4).
132
Dennis Moss Partnership