South Africa’s tourism and investment sector is well poised to take advantage of the improved global appetite for tourism, to optimise its contribution to the country’s economic objectives.

So says Miller Matola of Millvest Advisory which is facilitating a new investment flagship event, the Tourism Investment Forum Africa (TIFA), which will make its debut in the Northern Cape from June 7-9.  

The Forum will be held under the theme ‘Forging Global Partnerships for Inclusive Local Economic Development Through Sustainable Investment’, at the African Vineyard Hotel on Kanoneiland, Upington.

TIFA was conceptualised as a vehicle to promote trade, investment and finance solutions and opportunities between South Africa and the African continent. As ‘a global platform for local action’, the Forum also aims to afford the host destination the opportunity to promote investment into priority sectors of its economy and, in particular, the tourism sector, thereby contributing to inclusive and sustainable local economic growth and development, particularly job creation.

In addition to promoting investment projects and opportunities in the travel and tourism industry across the SADC and other regions, the TIFA will promote transversal projects and investment opportunities in critical sectors such as infrastructure, transport, real estate and the green economy, which are key to the development and growth of tourism through their stimulation of development in related sectors.

Facilitation of ‘meaningful business’

Matola highlighted that a key pillar of the platform was the facilitation of meaningful business-to-business (B2B) and business to government (B2G) exchanges to facilitate investment, networking, sharing of knowledge and market insights as well as other trade development opportunities.

He noted that the choice of hosting the Forum in Upington was strategic and aimed to expose international and domestic delegates to what the Northern Cape had to offer investors, with a view to increasing the opportunities for investment, job creation and economic growth within the province.

This is aligned to the priority focus of South African Tourism, which aims to showcase all that the country has to offer, and diversify the supply side of South Africa’s tourism economy.

The choice of Kanoneiland is also significant because it is the biggest river settlement in the country. In 1928, a group of 52 private settlers began to clear the land for cultivation. The irrigation scheme that was set up now supports the thriving vineyards that contribute significantly to the economic objectives of the province.

Agriculture in Kanoneiland, with its thriving vineyards, highlights a different side of the Northern Cape, which is best known for its Kalahari Desert and ǀAi-ǀAis/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park.

 High-value horticultural products such as table grapes, sultanas and wine grapes, dates, nuts, cotton, fodder and cereal crops are grown along the Orange River and wheat, fruit, groundnuts, maize and cotton are grown in the Vaalharts Irrigation Scheme in the vicinity of Hartswater.