The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism will host the 7th annual National Tourism Conference on 3 November 2008 at Emperor’s Palace in Gauteng.

The 2008 National Tourism Conference will converge under the theme Promoting Service Excellence and Partnership in Tourism for 2010 and Beyond.  The conference provides a platform for role players in the tourism sector to engage and share information on service excellence initiatives and international best practices. A Service Excellence Initiative will be launched at the conference, allowing delegates to commit to providing world-class service for our local and international clients.

The hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Soccer Cup provides the sector with an added opportunity to elevate service levels in South Africa to world standards. It is estimated that during 2010, there will be a total of 3.5 million participants, of which a third will be foreign arrivals. This requires South Africa to provide a highly satisfactory experience to tourists during 2010 and beyond.

Recent studies and surveys however, have revealed that South Africa does not live up to expectations when it comes to providing high standards of quality service   As host, the Department of Environment and Tourism is confident that this conference will significantly boost efforts to develop skilled service-oriented people, the backbone of this industry. The readiness of the tourism sector towards ensuring that South Africa delivers a world-class customer service in 2010 and beyond will also be ascertained during the conference. 

In addition, tourism was designated an immediate priority sector under the Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (ASGISA). A draft Tourism Human Resource Development Strategy for the sector highlights “a service ethos and tourism culture” as one of the strategic imperatives for tourism growth.

Promoting Service Excellence and Partnership in Tourism for 2010 and Beyond offers an excellent opportunity for role players within the industry to identify and consolidate institutional partnerships to help ensure that a culture of service excellence becomes the norm in South Africa.