As part of the National Tourism Safety Strategy, on Tuesday 12 December, Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille will launch the Tourism Monitors Programme in Hazyview, Mpumalanga.
The deployment of the monitors is part of the broader tourism safety measures identified in the 2018 National Tourism Safety Strategy.
The Strategy contains measures identified by partners who form the National Tourism Safety Forum which comprises all three spheres of government, the South African Police Service, the National Prosecuting Authority and the private sector such as the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) and the Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (SATSA) as well as local and provincial tourism authorities and agencies.
As part of the National Tourism Safety Strategy, the Department of Tourism has a Memorandum of Understanding with SAPS and has been working on the implementation of a number of initiatives. Some of the initiatives implemented are:
- Joint safety awareness sessions;
- SAPS assisting the department with the vetting of Tourism Monitors;
- SAPS has developed a coding system that will be provided to all police stations to use in the capturing of information related to crimes against tourists. The system will assist in providing a clear profile of the types of crimes against tourists;
- SAPS has also developed a Safety Learning and Development Programme for the Tourism Monitors.
Earlier this year, the private sector launched the Secura Traveller, tourism safety app and operations center to assist tourists with a range of services they may need in the event of any incident. The app links tourists to more than 200 service providers including medical and translation services.One of the measures to enhance tourist safety by the National Department of Tourism are the Tourism Monitors, which is also a job creation project, where tourism monitors are trained to be able to assist tourists.The Department has set aside R174.5 million from this year’s budget to deploy around 2 300 Tourism Monitors at key tourist attractions.The Tourism Monitors will be deployed at strategic ports of entry, national parks and other attractions across the country to assist with tourism and safety-related information and matters.Minister de Lille will oversee the deployment of the first set of Tourism Monitors in Hazyview, Mpumalanga. Details of the launch event are as follows:Date: Tuesday 12 December 2023Time: 10:00 – 12:00Venue: Anew Resort, Hazyview, Kruger Park, Mpumalanga All media are welcome to attend and are kindly requested to RSVP to Zara Nicholson on the details below. Ends/For Media Enquiries:Zara NicholsonMedia Liaison OfficerCell: +27 (0) 79 416 5996Email: znicholson@tourism.gov.za