“When I told my friends I was going to the World Cup in South Africa, they said I would be killed.” That was the blunt response I received when asking what perceptions a soccer fan had had about South Africa before coming to the country.
 
And now? In just the four weeks the perception of hundreds of thousands of travellers who ignored the negative reports on crime and safety in South Africa and did ‘brave’ the trip, have changed for the better.
 
Strong perceptions exist internationally that South Africa is an unsafe destination. The Tourism Sector Strategy (open for public comment until July 31), says “though the reality is that there is a problem with crime and safety in South Africa, the extent of crime incidents affecting tourists is not significantly high” (pages 63 and 64).
 
South Africa has been given a second chance to position the country positively in the hearts and minds of the world’s travellers. And part of that positioning should be a realistic assessment of the country’s safety and security in foreign source market countries, states the strategy.
 
Adds the strategy: “All efforts must be made to address incorrect perceptions in a pro-active manner. Incorrect perceptions result in potential visitors deciding against a visit to South Africa, and thereby results in a significantly lower number of foreign visitors to our country. The media is often at fault for focusing only on negative stories and not reporting the positive stories that may boost (South Africa’s) image.”
 
According to a report compiled by Business Against Crime recently, some 32m long-haul travellers decided not to visit South Africa because of fears about the country’s safety and security situation.
 
The threat of crime, in addition to general safety concerns, is therefore a huge obstacle to increasing tourist arrivals. So critical for the tourism sector is the crime and safety situation that the Southern African Tourism Services Association (SATSA) has teamed up with Business Against Crime to launch the Tourism Safety Initiative (tsi).
 
The tsi is a crime-prevention and victim-support programme whereby industry partners share information that can lead to arrests, prosecution and conviction; better knowledge of how and where crime affects tourism is created; the police are empowered to react immediately and victims of crime are properly supported.
 
Empowering the police is but one of the areas the Tourism Sector Strategy addresses in its action plan. The strategy suggests as a bold step that a tourism awareness training programme be launched for the police.
 
It also says the implementation of the tourism safety and security strategy should be fine tuned, managed and monitored.
 
Communication is another area that the sector strategy addresses. It suggests that a major campaign be developed and implemented to improve perceptions of safety and security in both foreign source markets and domestically.

Such a communication campaign, says SATSA ceo Michael Tatalias, would be the responsibility of the entire tourism sector, not just South African Tourism.

"We're being given a second chance. We must take this opportunity to change their picture of us."

Meanwhile, South Africa has spent some R1.3bn on security over the World Cup, with 45 000 additional police patrolling the streets. This crime-fighting initiative looks set to remain after the tournament. Said President Jacob Zuma recently: "Our approach to crime fighting proved to be working and I want to assure the people of South Africa that we will continue in the same vein in fighting crime after the World Cup."
 
If you have any views on this issue or how the sector's strategy needs to be changed, simply submit your comments to the National Department of Tourism at strategy@tourism.gov.za well ahead of the July 31 deadline.
 
The countdown is on with only 22 days left to comment - don't miss the opportunity to make your voice heard.

Previous articles on the sector strategy:

*African arrivals: http://www.tourismupdate.co.za/NewsDetails.aspx?newsId=22145

*Business tourism: http://www.tourismupdate.co.za/NewsDetails.aspx?newsId=22143

*Marketing SA: http://www.tourismupdate.co.za/NewsDetails.aspx?newsId=22135

*Environmental management: http://www.tourismupdate.co.za/NewsDetails.aspx?newsId=22124

*Access to capital: http://www.tourismupdate.co.za/NewsDetails.aspx?newsId=22120

*Tourism grading: http://www.tourismupdate.co.za/NewsDetails.aspx?newsId=22105

*Product development: http://www.tourismupdate.co.za/NewsDetails.aspx?newsId=22104

*Information provision: http://www.tourismupdate.co.za/NewsDetails.aspx?newsId=22091

*Local government: http://www.tourismupdate.co.za/NewsDetails.aspx?newsId=22090

*PPPs: http://www.tourismupdate.co.za/NewsDetails.aspx?newsId=22082

*Tourism research: http://www.tourismupdate.co.za/NewsDetails.aspx?newsId=22069

*Government support: http://www.tourismupdate.co.za/NewsDetails.aspx?newsId=22069