South African Minister of Tourism, Mr. Derek Hanekom, and his Brazilian counterpart, Mr. Vinicius Nobre Lages, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation in the field of tourism on the sidelines of the Brazil’s travel agency association, Associação Brasileira de Agências de Viagens (ABAV), Travel Tradeshow in Sao Paolo, Brazil.
The 5th BRICS Summit held in Durban, South Africa, identified tourism as one of the critical areas for prioritisation by member countries of BRICS. “We have now signed bilateral MoUs with all member countries of BRICS, and we look forward to the potential offered by these emerging markets,” added Hanekom.
The signing ceremony, which coincided with “Meet South Africa Week”, was preceded by the opening of the South African Tourism (SAT) office in Sao Paolo on 23 September 2014. SAT hosted their first Ubuntu Awards on the same day, in recognition of tour operators who have successfully promoted South Africa as a premier global destination.
The South Africa-Brazil MoU is the first in the field of tourism that the government has signed with a South American country. It seeks to coordinate efforts for sustainable promotion of tourism, responsible tourism, and the expansion of tourism relations between the two countries. “The Brazilian market is very important to us. Our latest annual tourism arrivals statistics revealed 8% growth from South America in 2013. This was driven by arrivals from the Brazilian market which grew at 5.6% last year. We look forward to working together with our Brazilian counterparts to promote and develop tourism,” said Hanekom.
Through the MoU, the two countries will strengthen cooperation in the following areas:
a. Sustainable promotion of the tourism industry; b. The development and expansion of tourism relations between the two countries, with a view to improve their knowledge of each other’s culture, way of life and history; c. Responsible tourism practises; d. Developing the agenda and activities of the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and other relevant multilateral fora; including implementation of the Global Code of Ethics in tourism;e. Exchange of tourist information, publicity and exhibition materials; f. Exchange of information and expertise by their professionals and experts;g. (c) Tourism training and technical assistance; andh. (d) Combatting activities that can involve sexual exploitation of children in tourism.
Natasha Rockman
Cell: +27 (0) 76 429 2262
Issued by Ministry of Tourism