The South African San Council has called for the San people to be included more in the development of tourism programmes.
Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu is hosting the 2022 Tourism Month launch at the Khwatu Nature Reserve on the Cape West Coast. This is as tourism is on the up following the devastation created by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Chairperson of the Council, Collin Louw, says the San Community often feels excluded from the tourism value chain, even though many tourism campaigns offer trips to the areas where the San people live.
He says the San people will derive more economic benefits from the tourism sector, if more tourism campaigns include them in their programmes.
Louw was speaking at the launch of Tourism Month, at the !Khwa ttu Nature Reserve, near Yzerfontein, on the West Coast.
“We have trained guides. We have the Drakensberg, we have the Cederberg. Wherever you go, you find the rock messengers, to people, its art. It’s not art, it’s messages that says what happened at that time and I think the San is the rightful people who can explain to tourists what that messages really tell to them and we want to be part and parcel of this whole tourism packet, because we feel that we can add value to the whole tourism in South Africa.” explains Louw.
Minister Sisulu attended the Tourism Month media launch under the localised theme “Rethinking Tourism: Opportunities await”. She says tourism is increasing following the devastation created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
