The aim of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) is to lead sustainable development of South Africa’s environment and tourism for a better life for all. The department manages policies that govern four interrelated sectors in South Africa’s socio-economic development spectrum.
Administration and Support programme:
Provides strategic leadership, corporate services, cooperative governance and information management.
Environmental Quality and Protection programme:
Protect and improve the quality and safety of the environment to give effect to the right of all South Africans to an environment that is not harmful to their health and wellbeing.
Marine and Coastal Management programme:
Promote the development and management of South Africa’s marine and coastal environments in a way that ensures the sustainability of the marine resources, while maximizing economic opportunities, job creation and poverty alleviation.
Tourism programme:
Creates conditions for sustainable tourism growth and development for the benefit of all South Africans.
Biodiversity and Conservation programme:
Promote the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources to improve economic growth and poverty alleviation.
Sector Services and International Relations programme:
This branch provides planning, coordination and business management services, manages the implementation of poverty alleviation projects, and manages the department’s international cooperation obligations and commitments.
The work of the department is also supported by the following statutory bodies: South African Tourism, the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa (TGCSA), the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), South African National Parks (SANParks), iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority and the South African Weather Service (SAWS).
TOURISM
As a contribution to the country’s development objectives, the tourism industry development initiatives focused on the implementation of tourism investment programmes.
A number of initiatives were achieved as part of tourism development. These include the Tourism Enterprise Programme (TEP), product development and the 2010 Tourism Plan, the development of the Tourism BEE Charter and information management services. These initiatives support the department’s ideal of growing the tourism industry, while at the same time ensuring meaningful transformation within the sector.
In support of the tourism growth initiatives as reflected in the Tourism Growth Strategy, programmes to enhance service standards levels in the tourism industry have been leveraged through the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa (TGCSA) by the grading of tourism accommodation facilities for 2010 and beyond . The Energy Efficiency drive to encourage the tourism industry to be energy efficient is in its preparatory stage. The project will be undertaken in partnership with the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA), Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) and ESKOM.
The development of minimum standards on responsible tourism is (Greening Rating) at its highest level and the framework will be completed by March 2008. The implementation of the minimum standards for responsible tourism will be driven by the TGCSA.
A strategy to professionalize Tourist Guiding in South Africa is in the process of being developed and will be in place by March 2009. This initiative will ensure delivery of optimum service in this sector. The strategy will also enable the development of diverse communication platforms for the industry and broad civil society. A National task Team (DEAT, Home Affairs, Cross Border Control, Metro Police and Provincial Registrars) has been established to drive the implementation of the Tourism Second Amendment Act No: 70, 2000 with amongst others deals with the curbing of illegal guiding in South Africa. The Illegal Guiding Campaign was launched by the Task Team in September 2008 and the process will be devolved to the provinces.
The tourism skills development achievements include the finalization of the Tourism Sector Skills Plan (TSSP), the development and approval of the Airlift Strategy and other land transport plans also enhances access to the destination, whilst the development and implementation of a National Tourism Safety And awareness strategy seeks to address perceptions that South Africa is an unsafe destination for tourists.
The department’s tourism mandate is supported by the activities of six statutory bodies: South African Tourism (SAT), the national tourism agency tasked with marketing South Africa internationally as a preferred tourist destination, and the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa(TGCSA), a public-private partnership tasked with developing and managing a quality assurance system and grade accommodation establishments for the tourism industry in South Africa, Tourism Empowerment of South Africa(TECSA)mandated to drive and facilitate implementation of the Tourism BEE Charter and Scorecard, Tourism Enterprise Partnership (TEP) tasked to support, development of enterprises in the tourism sector, Tourism Business Council of South Africa(TBCSA) mandated to serve as one voice for tourism private sector businesses, Tourism Hospitality and Sport, Education and Training Authority (THETA) mandated to facilitate the development of skills in South Africa.
GREENING THE 7TH ANNUAL NATIONAL TOURISM CONFERENCE
The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism is mandated to protect and improve the quality and safety of the environment to give effect to the right of all South Africans to an environment that is not harmful to health and well being. The department’s objectives are to ensure that natural resources are managed sustainably and in a manner that enhances responsible human behaviour that minimises negative impact to the environment. Further, the department will be focussing on hosting of conferences in a sustainable manner in the future. In hosting the 7th Annual National Tourism Conference, the following have been considered:
- Waste Management: waste minimisation, waste separation, waste recycling
- Energy Efficiency: by using CFL bulbs, flat screens, being conscious of air conditioning units
- Paper minimisation: provided electronic handouts, printing on green paper, utilising online registration and fax to email
- Water minimisation: intelligent sensor taps; avoid bottled water, dual flushing toilets in bathrooms
In this respect, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism has worked closely with the venue and the service providers in putting in place measures in order to further prevent the negative impact on the environment. For example, presenting electronically instead of printing unnecessary handouts, meeting via conference call rather than driving to meetings, and printing on triple green paper, back to back, serving water in jugs instead of bottled water and separating waste for recycling.
What can you do as a delegate attending the 7th Annual National Tourism delegate?
Try implementing the following tips:
- Switch off/hibernate your laptop during the conference assists in saving energy,
- Use of public vehicles/shuttles instead of private cars in reducing carbon emissions,
- Boiling only the amount of water you need in a kettle provides significant energy saving in the home,
- All the little gadget chargers for cell phone, Ipod etc account for 5% of your electricity bill when left unplugged or appliances left on standby mode,
- Changing to Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL’s) can halve or even quarter your lighting costs,
- Using grey water in your garden,
- Planting a tree,
- The better product-to-packaging ratio to 2 litre plastic bottles of cool drinks relies on a far more energy-efficient production and greener choice. Remember this when cooling down this summer – and recycle the bottle.
- Look out for the FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) logo on paper and cork based packaging – this indicates that it comes from a well-managed, sustainable forest.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank Simply Green for their partnership within our conference.
For more tips on energy saving, you can visit:
