I am honoured to be appointed as Shadow Minister of Tourism
I plan to make a difference within this important sector in the sixth Parliament.
Our leader Mmusi Maimane announced the Shadow Cabinet. It is an honour and a privilege for me that my leader has the confidence in me to appoint me to the most important post of Shadow Minister of Tourism.
Tourism is an important component of our economic development and growth. The tourism sector directly contributed 2.9 percent to South African gross domestic product (GDP) in 2016, according to the latest release of Stats SA’s annual Tourism Satellite Account for South Africa report. This makes the tourism sector a larger contributor than agriculture. Tourism has added just over 40 000 net new jobs to the economy over the five-year period from 2012 to 2016. This is higher than the number of jobs gained in industries such as trade and utilities such as electricity, gas and water.
The tourism sector workforce has 686 596 employees. This outnumbers the mining workforce which numbers 444 000 employees. Presently, one in every 23 employed people in South Africa is employed within the tourism sector. However, much more can be done as tourism is an “easy win” for economic growth and job creation.
The way we think about tourism must change. We need to encourage South Africans to be tourists in their own country as there is so much to see and do in an economical way without having to travel to places far away.
I plan to make a difference within this important sector in the sixth Parliament.
It is time to get to work.
Manny de Freitas MP
Shadow Minister of Tourism
Democratic Alliance
