Remarks by H.E.Tony Leon, South African Ambassador to ArgentinA

At the South African Embassy cocktail function in honour of the South African Exhibition stand at the 2009 Feria Internacional de Turismo (FIT) Exhibition

Buenos Aires, Monday 16 November 2009 at 19H00

1) Bienvenidos. Es un placer para mí recibir a nuestros amigos de Sudáfrica y Latinoamérica. Hoy celebramos la primera participación de Sudáfrica con un stand institucional propio en la FIT –aún en curso aquí en Buenos Aires. Disculpen si ahora cambio al inglés.

I’d like to specially welcome Ambassador Shan Morgan of UK and Provincial Ministers from South Africa Ms Namusa Dube (KwaZulu-Natal), and Ms Pauline Williams and Mr Albin Botes (Northern Cape).

We, in the South African Mission, are tremendously pleased to have participated along with more than 1.700 exhibitors in one of the world’s most important tourism trade fairs. More than fifty countries, from across our global village are represented here. I am delighted as a newly-arrived Ambassador to be able to preside over my country’s first-ever appearance at FIT with its own institutional stand. Our Embassy staff, particularly Mzi Langa, Laura Wilson, Moni Di Liscia, Florencia Achcar did all the hard background, and back-breaking work, to project South Africa to the wider World and to Latin America in particular.

It is greatly encouraging that no fewer than ten of our Provincial and local Government Tourism Agencies and Boards are with us at F.I.T. – for the first time. We hope you will become annual features here and consider the South African Mission in Buenos Aires your home away from home. We have representatives here from North West, KwaZulu-Natal, Johannesburg, Eastern Cape, Cape Winelands, Linpopo, Northern Cape, Mossel Bay and Nelson Mandela (Port Elizabeth). They are living and breathing proof of our National slogan “Diverse people unite”. At the stand we also have local Argentina tour operators who tailor make packages for visitors from this country to visit South Africa.

2) [SOUTH AFRICA’S TOURIST BOOM]

South Africans are proud of our beautiful scenery, teeming wildlife, exotic flora, momentous history and great climate. We have also found that tourism to South Africa is, literally, the new “gold”. Tourism now contributes more foreign Exchange to South Africa’s GDP – 8% - than the gold exports. In Africa we are increasingly discovering that unlike gold, tourism is an inexhaustible resource, provided we also protect our environment. It drives job creation, development and economic growth. It also allows our communities to share in the growth and fosters unity. In 2008 we attracted the highest number of visitors to our country ever: 9.59 million, a 5.5% increase in comparison with 2007. This performance considerably outpaced the global average decrease of 1.8%, in the same period. It occurred amidst the worst global recession since the Great Depression.

But there is no room for complacency: Africa as a whole receives just 5% of international visitors, and we are determined to increase our share.

3) [SOUTH AMERICAN TOURISM IN SOUTH AFRICA]

There is, in my view, a huge potential to attract South American visitors to our shores. Although last year registered a 9% increase in South American visitors to South Africa, this Continent’s total of 55.201 visitors represents barely 0.5% of our global total. Brazil leads the way with 35.669 and Argentina is in second place, somewhat behind at 8.704 visitors in 2008.

But there are no more excuses! Brazil and Argentina are among the qualifying finalists for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which we see as a tremendous platform for tourism and trade.

4) [2010 AND BEYOND]

Despite economic challenges, we remain ever-optimistic about the future. In South Africa, we have developed a slogan for the 2010 FIFA World Cup that says “KE NAKO: Celebrate Africa’s Humanity”. This is true not only for football, but we believe also for travel and tourism. Africa will be the theatre, and South Africa will be the stage for the 2010 World Cup.

We are ready to host the biggest and most successful sporting spectacular that the World has ever seen. Every visitor can expect a warm African welcome. And in a year from now, 450.000 new ambassadors for Africa would have returned home to spread the message. These visitors will spend USD 1.5 billion.

For Africa, a successful World Cup holds huge symbolic and branding value. The global exposure to the truly African experience will be immense. I am confident that the World Cup will introduce an era of new growth and new opportunities for the tourism sector in Africa.

At one level, 2010 will be 96 hours of football, four to five weeks of tourism for perhaps 450.000 visitors. We will host 32 teams who’ll play 64 matches in 9 cities at 10 stadia in front of 3 million spectators –all of which will be transmitted by 15 thousand media representatives. But at another level it will, if we succeed, create years and decades of impressions about our country to a global cumulative T.V. audience of 32 billion people.

5) Deseo así agradecer la presencia de todos ustedes aquí esta noche, así como su entusiasta participación en la FIT. Muchas gracias.