This Tourism Week 20 August 2010

Your Silence Is The Loud Trumpet Call That Heralds The End Of Tourism To South Africa

Democracy created the tourism industry in South Africa: it’s coming end will kill it.

Remember the democracy dividend? Even the much-vaunted World Cup could never do for the South African tourism industry what democracy did: for a long and sustained period, our industry reaped the benefits of the dramatically positive changes that came about as a result of the unbanning of political parties, and the elections of 1994.

Over the last five years, though, it’s become more and more apparent that the rulers of this country have lost all sense right and wrong, and that they’re more interested in lining their own pockets, and in consolidating their own power, than they are in the common good – and this (it’s so blatantly obvious!) is the simple reason why they’re now calling for a silencing of the media. Nor has this been lost on the people in our source markets: South Africa has been accused of being a kleptrocracy, South Africa is seen as an unsafe destination, South Africa is seen as a tourist trap, and a rip-off.

So the visitors are staying away in their millions.

And how have we as a tourism industry reacted? We’ve done nothing, I think, except mount a sustained PR campaign about ‘perceptions.’ (“This is a great country. Crime and violence? Graft? Corruption? Lack of service delivery? All a perception. The reality is very different.”)

We have, in other words, stuck our heads in the sand.

But then, ostrich tourism always has been a particularly South African icon.

And, now, as this country faces the biggest threat to its democracy – ever – in the form of the proposed Media Appeals Tribunal (which will silence the press more effectively than the Nationalists ever managed to do), and the Protection of Information Bill,  (which will silence any discussion of or investigation into graft and corruption in South Africa, and which will, in effect, prevent any criticism of the government – at every level – and so leave the kleptocrats free to walk all over our hard-won democracy, and pillage the country, and quickly and effectively kill tourism, and every other industry besides) – the tourism industry has once again done nothing. Or nothing that I know of. Maybe there’s been some quiet diplomacy going on, but we all know how effective that is.

Does its silence mean that tourism doesn’t care? It seems so.

What’s happening now is worrying the USA (watch US ambassador Donald H Gips’ address to the South African Institute of International Affairs, in which he explained why it’s necessary to fight corruption, why it’s necessary to ensure the freedom of the media – and why the two are linked); it’s worrying big business (well, some big business. Read the Daily Maverick on this: “On Wednesday morning the chairman of Pick ‘n Pay linked media freedom with economic freedom. On Wednesday evening the US ambassador to South Africa linked media freedom with the fight against corruption. What makes their voices stand out in particular is that both have felt the sharp end of the media – but neither think that’s reason enough to muzzle the country.”)

So tell me – why isn’t it worrying tourism?

Heads Up

We’ve got a whole list of new titles in the BarefootBookshop – which is dedicated to reviewing books for and about tourism in South Africa.

Pick of the week? – Awesome South Africa

Derryn Campbell’s new book, Awesome South Africa, is funny and inspiring, and could be tourism’s best sales tool ever.

I’d love to go to a country that was presented like this. The book is richly illustrated, filled with fast facts and word pictures, and its big, and square (24×24 cm), and solid (224 pages) – and it paints a portrait of South Africa as big (1,219,912 km = which is the same area as France + Germany + the UK), and weird (see pages 21-22: ‘Real Life Situations on South African Roads’) – and solid (”while occupying 4% of Africa’s land mass, South Africa boasts more than 50% of the cars, phones, automatic bank tellers, and industrial facilities on the continent”. and it ranks number one in the world for reserves of platinum, manganese, chrome, gold and vanadium – and number two for vermiculite, titanium, and zirconium).

But above all, it paints a picture of a country that is incredibly beautiful, and has a huge amount of fun even as it faces some of the greatest challenges of any country, anywhere (where else would you expect to find an estate agents’ board that offered a property for sale as a “Potential Mortuary, or Fruit Packing, Or Meat Processing Facility”?).

It’s the kind of gift you’d want to give to everyone who visits, it should be on every coffee table in every lodge’s lounge, and you’ll want a copy for your self, too, to keep by your side and dive into when you need to laugh at this exasperating land of ours.

Awesome South Africa: The Best, Greatest, Craziest, Biggest and Funniest is an awesome book.

Buy it here