Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu will depart for Dubai on Sunday to attend the Dubai Expo 2020.
The Dubai Expo is the first World Expo to be hosted in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (MEASA region) and the first to be hosted by an Arab country.
Premised on three key thematic areas of Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability, the six- month expo will end in March 2022. It is expected to attract about 192 countries and more than a million people or visitors from around the world. Visitors are promised cultural experiences, entertainment and educational exhibits and talks.
The Dubai Expo will provide South Africa with an opportunity to rejuvenate its ailing economy with the tourism sector hardest hit during and beyond COVID -19. The Expo will also help promote destination South Africa and inspire the world to visit our shores, secure investment opportunities as well as to highlight the work of the industry, which is built on the concept of inclusivity and sustainability.
Prior the COVID-19 pandemic, South Africa’s tourism enjoyed a positive trade balance with the rest of the world.
In 2019, it contributed about 8.7% to the GDP and created about 1.5 million jobs both directly and indirectly.
SA's THEME: INSPIRING INCLUSIVE AND INDUSTRIAL DIVERSITY AND EXCELLENCE
The theme highlights opportunities from our diversity as South Africans and on how industrialisation continues to inspire inclusivity, transformation, connectivity, and mobility.
Today (10 December), the world got a glimpse of North West Province as the South African pavilion continues its provincial showcase series at the Expo 2020 in Dubai.
Presented as a virtual showcase on the South African Pavilion online portal, attendees will get a sliver of each of the nine provinces over the next three weeks. The pavilion’s theme “Think South Africa, Think Opportunity,” calls on investors from around the world to consider South Africa a business destination.
Tourism contributes about five percent to the North West economy providing some 30,000 jobs. The province is home to family tourism drawcards that include the Sun City Entertainment Complex, Hartebeespoort Dam, Madikwe and Pilanesberg Big Five game reserves, Vredefort Dome Heritage Site and Taung Heritage Site – where the 2.8-million-year-old Taung Child fossilised skull was found.
The next provincial showcase will feature the Free State on Tuesday, 14 December. To catch these events, register on the pavilion’s online portal.
Keep up with the South African Pavilion Team on Twitter using the handle TeamSA_Expo2020. Follow the events at the pavilion using #ThinkOpportunity #Expo2020SA #ShareSouthAfrica.
Steve Motale
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Mpumzi Zuzile
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