South African government to invest more in wildlife parks

GOVERNMENT will invest R193m over the next three years to develop national and transfrontier parks, Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said at the weekend.

The development of national parks was one area where government and business had not yet taken maximum advantage of the worldwide growth in the tourism sector and developing parks was one way to ensure SA remained a top destination, he said.

"Regional parks can carry 7-million visitors per year, but they currently carry only 2-million visitors per annum. We need 15000 extra beds in national parks alone to realise the parks' potential," Van Schalkwyk said at the annual general meeting of the Tourism Business Council, an industry body.

Tourism-related companies say their margins have come under pressure from the strong rand, which, they say, has reduced SA's competitiveness.

The industry, which contributes 7,1% to gross domestic product (GDP) , is regarded as one of the key job-creating sectors of the economy.

It has stagnated, with the rand gaining 95% against the dollar since the end of 2001, pushing up prices

Van Schalkwyk said the money allocated for national parks would be used to purchase thousands of hectares of land.

The minister said business tourism, and meetings, conventions, events and exhibitions, contributed R20bn a year to GDP and he expected the sector to improve.

The tourism department would also unveil the black empowerment scorecard for the industry during a tourism indaba to be held next month, he said.

"The scorecard will expand co-ownership and ensure that the industry belongs to all South Africans," he said.