PHOSA ENCOURAGES
STRICTER SECURITY MEASURES AT TOURISM ESTABLISHMENTS
By
BRIAN KAJENGO
Nelspruit- Mpumalanga MEC for
Economic Development, Environment and Tourism, Mrs. YN Phosa has urged all
stakeholders in the tourism industry to priorities the safety of tourists
visiting establishments in the province by working together with the South
African Police Service to ensure that the safety of tourists is not
compromised.
“As the Department responsible
for tourism, we will continue to work very closely with the South African
Police Service in partnership with private sector to safe-guard tourists and
our communities. The Province is in the process of developing the Tourism
Safety Plan which we believe will strengthen our work in this regard,” said
Phosa.
The plan will be rolled out all
over the Province with a certain level of bias towards the Lowveld area, where
most of these tourist attacks are reported. It will involve strengthening the
Tourism Safety Monitors Programme in the Province, Tourism Awareness Campaigns
to sensitise communities about the importance of the tourism sector, in terms
of job creation and its contribution to the provincial economy.
She further emphasized the
importance of the tourism industry given that it is one of the pillars of the
Mpumalanga Economic Growth and Development Path (MEGDP), and has a huge
potential to create the much needed jobs for the people of Mpumalanga.
During the Peak Season, Safety
Campaigns will nonscientist tourists about their safety, and further offer them
safety tips. Crime victims will also be
offered After-Care support which aims to assist tourists with temporary accommodation,
arranging of travelling documents (if lost), amongst others.
MEC Phosa has also committed to
work together with all stakeholders in the tourism industry in an effort to
ensure an increase in a number of tourist arrivals and their safety in the
Province.
This follows isolated incidents
of attacks and robbery at some privately-owned tourism establishments in the
Province, the latest being the murder of Mr. Johannes Cornelissen at a guest
establishment in Hazyview last Friday.
“My condolence goes to the family
of the late Mr. Johannes Cornelissen. I
appeal to our people around the area of Hazyview to come forward and assist the
law enforcement agencies in arresting the perpetrators of this barbaric crime
against innocent people who visit our province,” said Mrs Phosa.
“We strongly denounce any attack
on tourists because this barbaric act may negatively impact on our efforts to
grow tourism in our Province. If our own people continue to attack visitors to
their Province, it is like they are attacking their own visitors, and the
message they are implicitly sending is that visitors are not welcome in our
Province. I do not think you can treat any person who is visiting your
household in that manner. Let us collectively embrace the spirit of Ubuntu, and
extend a welcoming hand to our visitors,” added the MEC.
No comments:
Post a Comment