Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of Tourism, is not known for flowery language, but is reported to have used some interesting expressions in his address to the General Assembly on Tourism and Aviation of the  Airline Association of Southern Africa earlier this week, reports eTurboNews.

Minister van Schalkwyk said that the aviation and tourism industries were dealing with the same customers, but called them different names. ‘What you call passengers, we call tourists, and that includes both business and leisure travelers. Aviation is the midwife for more than 50% of international tourist arrivals and 70% of all tourism receipts worldwide. But the inverse is of course also true: Tourism is also a “midwife” for air transport growth‘, he said.

Trends which affect the Tourism industry,  identified by the Minister, were the following:

*  Tourism has grown rapidly in the past 60 years. ‘Globally, we expect 350 million new international tourist arrivals by 2020 and, by 2030, we expect arrivals to top 1.8 billion. What makes our sector so unique is its multiplying effect in contributing to GDP (gross domestic product) and job creation’.  The G20 declaration adopted last year reflects the positive social and economic effect of tourism.

*   Economic and political power is moving to the South and to the East. ‘Over the next 20 years, international tourist arrivals in emerging-economy destinations are expected to grow at double the pace of advanced-economy destinations‘.  By 2015 inbound tourism to emerging-market destinations will surpass that to the advanced countries.

*   By 2035 two thirds of the emerging-market population will be travelling, growing from 20% currently.

*   Traditional source markets will stay important.

*   The ‘real price’ of air travel has decreased by 60% in the past 45 years.

*   By 2030 two-thirds of the world population will live in cities and towns, new cities being constructed in Africa and Asia in the main.  Our continent alone will have 50 cities by 2050.

Trends in aviation which Minister van Schalkwyk highlighted were the following:

*   e-Visas, or even m-Visas on one’s smartphone, will enhance tourism.  By 2014 more than half of all passports issued in the world will be e-passports, with biographic and biometric data embedded by microchip.  By 2010 this is expected to have grown to 80%.

*   ‘South-South travel reflects the new economic and political realities in this world‘, meaning that Southern hemisphere countries need to be better connected. Inner-Africa connections also need to be enhanced.

*   ‘Hyper-connectivity‘ is a  reality, but brings with it the downside of ‘hyper-vulnerabilities’.  ‘We have to work harder than ever to control content. Real-time reputational risks associated with the social media are greater than ever before. Tourists are more empowered than ever before to be at the center of decision-making. By clicking on a computer mouse, they can switch to new routes or destinations. Other potential disruptions in the age of hyper-connectivity pertain to the cloud-based economy and trust issues in data security‘, the Minister explained. 

*  ‘Aviation’s current addiction to kerosene jet fuels’ is a challenge, and must be broken for long-haul travel to survive.  Airlines with modern and fuel-efficient fleets will could become leaders in the emerging low-carbon economy.  Emissions must be managed, and longer-term aviation biofuels must be used.  SAA is already working on its fuel replacement.

The Minister did not address specific airline issues, such as the negative impact on the Western Cape economy and tourism industry of SAA’s Johannesburg airline hub strategy, and its cutting of the Cape Town – London route.  He also did not address the cost of SAA (and other airline) flights to South Africa, a tourism deterrent!

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio:  www.whalecottage.com  Twitter: @WhaleCottage