WATCH: Minister of Tourism Patricia de Lille launches Tourism Month
Just weeks before National Tourism Month, minister Patricia de Lille launched the campaign in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
The campaign, which is there to encourage locals to travel domestically, focuses on the importance of tourism in the economy of South Africa.
The first Tourism Month was launched in 2007 in the Eastern Cape's Nelson Mandela Museum in Qunu.
'Later next month, we will return to this province to commemorate World Tourism Day, but today we begin our national reflection and celebration under a theme that could not be more urgent or more relevant: 'Tourism and Sustainable Transformation',' said the minister.
Marking the 28th edition of the campaign, this year's Tourism Month was launched at Sakhumzi Restaurant in Parkview.
South Africa's Tourism Month starts on 1 September, while World Tourism Day falls in the same month, but on the 27th.
NOW READ: Here are the nationalities that recently visited South Africa the most
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IOL News
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Tourism industry raises alarm over leadership turmoil in South African Tourism Board
SA Tourism CEO, Nombulelo Guliwe, a qualified Chartered Accountant, was appointed to the CEO position for a five-year period in February 2024 following a comprehensive recruitment process. Image: Supplied The Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) - the umbrella organisation representing businesses in the hospitality, travel, and tourism sector - has voiced serious concerns over recent upheavals within the board of South African Tourism (SA Tourism). This comes after the SA Tourism board on Thursday placed CEO Nombulelo Guliwe on precautionary suspension effective immediately, following serious allegations of misconduct. Leadership instability at the national tourism agency responsible for marketing the country as a preferred tourist destination comes just a month before one of South Africa's biggest tourism conferences hosted by TBCSA. In a statement on Friday, TBCSA highlighted Guliwe's reported suspension and the resignation of board chairperson, Professor Gregory Davids, last month as glaring concerns. Compounding worries for the tourism industry, there are discussions around the potential dissolution of the board itself. These developments come at a time when the tourism sector is still in a precarious state of recovery following the tumultuous impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. TBCSA said it was alarmed by the leadership instability as it could derail significant progress made in revitalising the tourism market. "These matters are deeply troubling as the sector is still in recovery mode," said TBCSA chairman, Jerry Mabena. "The TBCSA calls on the Minister, Hon. Patricia de Lille, to urgently address these matters. The TBCSA further stands in support of the work of the ministry and department in ensuring that tourism programs are not delayed or adversely affected." In light of these circumstances, the TBCSA called upon the Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille, to take swift action in addressing these pressing issues. The organisation expressed unwavering support for the Ministry and the department's efforts in ensuring that existing tourism programmes continue unabated and are not hindered by the ongoing uncertainties. Looking ahead, the TBCSA said it plans to engage with other key tourism stakeholders, including the board of SA Tourism, in the coming week in a bid to discuss strategies to collectively support the organisation during this turbulent period. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading Meanwhile, De Lille's office declared the board's decision null and void since it no longer has a chairperson nor a deputy chairperson. In a brief statement in response to this suspension, the department said De Lille has noted the decision by the board and said it was "unlawful". "As of 31 July 2025, the South African Tourism Board does not have a board chairperson following the resignation of Professor Gregory Davids. This means, the board in its current form is not properly constituted to take such a resolution," said the department. "Minister de Lille, remains committed to ensuring the adherence to sound governance principles at South African Tourism and will address the above with the board." Guliwe, a qualified Chartered Accountant, was appointed to the CEO position for a five-year period in February 2024 following a comprehensive recruitment process. In nearly 10 years with the organisation, Guliwe has served in various leadership roles throughout her career including chief financial officer at SA Tourism since August 2019. Under Guliwe's tenure, SA Tourism was recently plunged into a tender scandal after allegations of irregularities in the awarding of a R100 million tender to Pomme Express. Pomme Express was reported to have failed to show proof of experience and alleged to have provided false and misleading information in its bid toorganise Meetings Africa 2025 and Africa's Travel Indaba 2025. While in the position of action CEO, Guliwe was accused by a group of SA Tourism employees of bullying and enforcing a culture of intimidation and intimidation, but the board at the time dismissed those allegations as baseless.
The Citizen
2 days ago
- The Citizen
WATCH: Minister of Tourism Patricia de Lille launches Tourism Month
South Africa's Tourism Month starts on 1 September, while World Tourism Day is in the same month but on the 27th. Just weeks before National Tourism Month, minister Patricia de Lille launched the campaign in Johannesburg on Wednesday. The campaign, which is there to encourage locals to travel domestically, focuses on the importance of tourism in the economy of South Africa. The first Tourism Month was launched in 2007 in the Eastern Cape's Nelson Mandela Museum in Qunu. 'Later next month, we will return to this province to commemorate World Tourism Day, but today we begin our national reflection and celebration under a theme that could not be more urgent or more relevant: 'Tourism and Sustainable Transformation',' said the minister. Marking the 28th edition of the campaign, this year's Tourism Month was launched at Sakhumzi Restaurant in Parkview. South Africa's Tourism Month starts on 1 September, while World Tourism Day falls in the same month, but on the 27th. NOW READ: Here are the nationalities that recently visited South Africa the most
IOL News
3 days ago
- IOL News
Minister De Lille champions youth-driven transformation in Tourism Month launch
Minister of Tourism Patricia de Lille has unveiled this year's Tourism Month campaign. Image: Ayanda Ndamane/Independent Media Minister of Tourism Patricia de Lille, who, on Wednesday, launched this year's tourism month campaign during a media event held at Sakhumzi restaurant in Johannesburg, has called for the total transformation of the industry to create sustainable jobs for young people. The minister's address comes just a day after the Statistician General, Risenga Maluleke, announced South Africa's second quarter 2025 jobs data which revealed that 60% of industries in the country bled jobs in the second quarter of the year. This has triggered strong criticism from political parties and organised labour, with calls for urgent economic reforms, job creation programmes, and government accountability. "Transformation must be bold, inclusive, but it must be youth-driven. Transformation also calls for us to work together with both big and small businesses, who must benefit from the transformation process. "The tourism sector has the potential to create jobs for young people, which is why we must work together. Last year, the tourism industry reported 1.8 million jobs, and has the potential to deliver even more jobs if we focus on long-term solutions and we have our own transformation fund where we have committed millions to black and women-led enterprises," the minister said. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Under the theme: "Tourism and Sustainable Tourism", this year's celebrations have been earmarked to honour and celebrate South Africa's rich culture, heritage, and travel experiences, ahead of the tourism month, which kicks off officially in September. The minister's sentiments were echoed by her deputy, Maggie Sotyu, who said, despite the many challenges in the sector, the ministry is prepared to do everything to realise the true transformation of this important economic contributor. "Our commitment to tourism is more than standards, but raising tourism across South Africa and all sectors. When we talk about transformation, we must talk about community-based tourism, as it changes lives where we are. It is where visitors connect directly with our people and our cultures and we must be encouraged to be players in this sector," she said.
