[Cape Town, 28 November 2005] Provincial MEC for Finance and Tourism, Minister Lynne Brown, today announced the launch of the tourism safety and security programme for the 2005/2006 festive season at a breakfast discussion.
Addressing tourism role players, including Cape Town Routes Unlimited and Cape Town Tourism as well as community and volunteer organisations, such as Mountain Rescue, inter alia, Minister Brown explained that the plan comprises both reactive and proactive measures. The plans will form the basis of an integrated visitor safety approach.
The reactive plan comprises a Tourism Victim Support Unit and is designed to respond to incidents of crime or injury against tourists. This unit will offer practical and emotional support to victims and aims to foster a positive and caring environment after an incident has taken place.
The proactive pillar acknowledges that criminals thrive on unsuspecting tourists. Therefore, an extensive awareness campaign will propose safety strategies for visitors in an effort to minimise incidents of attacks on tourists and will also inform tourists on whom to contact in the event of an incident.
Current, accurate information plays a vital role in educating tourists, said Minister Brown. "For this festive season we want to ensure that in the event of an emergency, tourists know whom to contact. But most importantly, we want our tourists to relax and enjoy themselves."
During her speech Minister Brown referenced an incident where visitors were robbed of their belongings during their stay in Cape Town. One of the lessons learned for the tourism industry, is that the timely support given by the Tourism Victim Support Unit went a long way in influencing the visitors' perceptions of our destination in spite of the unfortunate incident.
"The moral of this story is that even after a negative incident; with great service we can still persuade people to come back and visit our shores," said Minister Brown.
This campaign is not only aimed at the physical well being of tourists, but it will also provide a platform for handling consumer-related complaints, such as the quality of a product or service provided. "The Office of the Consumer Protector will have dedicated staff to proactively manage tourist complaints and will ensure that timely follow up and feedback is provided. This can only improve our service excellence", said Minister Brown.
Officials responsible for implementing the Safety and Security Programme are tasked with liaising with other government officials on behalf of tourists, facilitating temporary travel documents, offering comfort, visiting patients in hospital, debriefing embassies, and generally providing care for tourists in the event of an accident or other negative incident.
Nokhuthula Dube, Cape Town Routes Unlimited CEO, says, "Despite the proactive and reactive plans, we are cognisant of the fact that one attack on a tourist is one too many."
Tourism remains a major driver of economic development in the Western Cape, accounting for approximately 9.8% of Gross Regional Product and employing 9.6% of the Western Cape's workforce. Tourism is an important source of income for the Province of the Western Cape with an annual direct injection of R 21-billion to the provincial economy.
Brown concludes, "In order to grow these numbers even further and protect the national and international reputation of the Western Cape, tourists must feel that they are being looked after in the best possible way."
For further information please contact:
Linda Chonco
Cape Town Routes Unlimited
082 334 3354
083 460 3910
