Investment in job creation, skills and empowering South Africans to tell their stories through local brands took centre stage at a CapeNature Tourism Month event on Thursday.
CapeNature, joined by the provincial government and other role-players in the sector, held discussions ahead of World Tourism Day 2023 on September 27.
An emphasis was placed on accessibility of local tourist attraction sites for disabled people and the working class, while the wealthy were urged to also spend on local tourism as much as they do abroad.
The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) pronounced this year’s theme “Tourism and Green Investments” and identified investments as one of the key priorities for tourism’s recovery, future growth and development.
It has highlighted the need for more and better-targeted investments for people, the planet and for prosperity.
CapeNature chief executive officer Razeena Omar said September was a special time as not only tourism was celebrated, but Heritage Day commemorated as well.
“This is an opportune time for us to reflect and celebrate our success.
We run a suite of infrastructure and facilities throughout the Western Cape and we rely on visitors to our nature reserves so that we can utilise that funding to grow biodiversity conservation,” said Omar.
The provincial government’s Economic Sector Support chief director Ilse van Schalkwyk said: “Load shedding has been tough for some businesses, they have to use solar panels and generators.
“Businesses have been adapting slowly but more needs to be done.
We are supporting small businesses to assist them with some costs. There is a fund that... we will announce soon.”
CapeNature’s eco-tourism and access executive director Sheraz Ismail said many of their sites were off-grid and part of their green investment was the use of solar including solar geysers and gas.
Cape Times