World Tourism Day: a call for genuine accountability in tourism sector

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This year, World Tourism Day was officially celebrated at Constitutional Hill in South Africa, the home of the Constitutional Court, as a symbolic call for genuine accountability in the tourism sector.

The irony of the day was its theme: “Tourism and Sustainable Transformation”, as the reality is that the Department itself is not transforming in the right direction. 

This is evident in recent failures and scandals, such as the suspension of the Tourism Agency’s CEO, Ms Nombulelo Guliwe, in response to allegations of misconduct. 

The Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille, described the suspension as unlawful due to management issues, and the board was subsequently dissolved.

Tourism in South Africa is affected and held back by several other problems as well. These include high crime rates and associated safety risks, as well as flight restrictions putting more pressure on tourism growth.

The fact that the country’s tourism has not fully recovered or returned to its pre-Covid-19 levels demonstrates the seriousness of the predicament in which the sector finds itself.

The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) attended the Department’s celebration at Constitutional Hill, where the Department aimed to highlight the value of human rights, democracy and reconciliation as a shared heritage through exhibitions and awareness campaigns – as it usually does at other venues such as museums.

Minister De Lille, speaking on the grounds of the Old Fort Prison, called on international investors to support the industry and emphasised the significant impact tourism could have on the country’s prosperity.

In the Freedom Front Plus's view, the venue for the occasion was quite fitting given the problems in the sector.

The Minister’s rhetoric about sustainable transformation and growth, without proven accountability and integrity, sounded as hollow as a key turning in the lock of an empty prison cell.

A good starting point for reviving tourism would be to ensure that corrupt officials hear a prison door slamming shut behind them.