Media Release: Tourism for inclusive growth

For Immediate Release
03 September 2021

Tourism Month features themed activities aligned to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation’s (UNWTO) World Tourism Day Celebrations that take place annually on 27 September. The theme for this year’s World Tourism Day is “Tourism for inclusive growth.”

Annually, Tourism Month provides a heightened month-long focus on the importance of the tourism sector and the enormous contribution the tourism industry makes to provincial and national economic growth as well as job creation in South Africa. “This year, we align our efforts with the national and provincial government to emphasize the importance of domestic tourism and inclusive growth. The tourism industry has been severely affected by the Covid–19 pandemic, and in Tourism Month, we want to shift our focus to the recovery of the sector and to build back better. We believe that promoting our beautiful region and its diverse offerings to the domestic market could increase visitors/domestic tourists to the area, contribute towards employment in the sector, and contribute to the growth of the tourism sector within the district,” said Ms Amagene Koeberg, Tourism Coordinator for Garden Route District Municipality.

This year’s theme is all about tourism for all, and it is about the rural women and the innovative youth; it is for the villages, towns and the less-visited part of our country. “This theme is about the cultural diversity of our offerings and the travel tastes of the millennials. Importantly, growth is about the broad-based benefits and support for small enterprises that continue to bear the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Tharage, Director-General of the Department of Tourism at the Golden Gate National Park outside of Clarens at the launch of Tourism Month.

Tourism Month in SA aims to encourage South Africans to travel domestically to understand better the affordable, exciting and world-class attractions available on their own doorstep.  It also serves as an opportunity to promote domestic tourism and create a culture of travel amongst South Africans.

Initiatives such as the; SHO’T LEFT TRAVEL WEEK 6 -12 September 2021 will present great travel deals, with airlines, hotel groups, tour operators and tourist attractions offering discounts of up to 50%. These deals must be bought during this week but can be redeemed at any other time, depending on the partner’s terms and conditions. This presents an opportunity for South Africans to tour and experience their own country.

As the country begins to open up again during COVID19, the appetite for domestic travel must be re-ignited, and South Africans should be encouraged to travel their country.

By visiting the website: www.shotleft.co.za South Africans can access great holiday deals. Some of these deals feature Garden Route & Klein Karoo tourism partners.  By visiting our regional tourism website’s events page at you can be enticed by the various events/festivals hosted in our local towns during Tourism Month and beyond, suitable to please any and every tourist with the array of diversity we have to offer.