Wine tourism sector growing rapidly

Wine tourism is one of the fastest growing and most lucrative sectors of the global tourism market, according to Minister of Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk.

"In SA, our wine industry plays an important role in terms of its contribution to specifically regional and rural economic growth and job creation," the minister added in a speech prepared for delivery at a stakeholder workshop at the Spier Estate outside Stellenbosch today.

"In 2009, wine tourism contributed an estimated 4.3 billion rand to our country's tourism revenue, and we believe there is still great potential for growth in this regard."

In SA, the wine industry played an important role in terms of its contribution to specifically regional and rural economic growth and job creation.

"Increasing its revenue from tourism can help the South African wine industry to offset international volatility caused by, among others, currency and demand fluctuations.

"Wine and gourmet tourism, which includes the enjoyment of food and wines, can also play a role in terms of our goal of increasing the geographic spread of tourism in SA, as it provides additional options for tourists.

"Wine tourism is a vital product offering in SA's tourism product as it helps improve the country's competitiveness against destinations like Brazil, Australia, Kenya and Thailand."

Van Schalkwyk defined wine tourism as visits by tourists and travellers to wineries, vineyards and wine regions "to experience the unique qualities of the regional (and national) lifestyle associated with the enjoyment of wine at its source".

In terms of global trends in travel and tourism, he added that the industry was still one of the world's fastest growing economic sectors, despite experiencing various setbacks and a fair amount of turbulence over the past two years.

"Travel and tourism now accounts for 9.2% of global gross domestic product (GDP), 4.8% of world exports and 9.2% of world investment. It is forecasted that travel and tourism's total economic contribution in 2011 is expected to account for more than $5.991 trillion (about R40 trillion), 9.1% of global GDP and 258 million jobs.

"This is forecast to reach $9.226 trillion (about R62 trillion) or 9.6% of global GDP by 2021," Van Schalkwyk noted. "We all appreciate the growing importance of the global tourism industry as a driver of economic growth and the role of tourism in emerging markets in particular as a catalyst of development, prosperity and job creation.

"Over the past decade an increasing number of emerging economies have successfully been leveraging tourism to boost development, and emerging economies have also been able to recover faster and with fewer losses from the economic downturn. The developing world's share of global GDP has increased from 33.7% in 1980 to 43.4% in 2010, and all indications are that the share of discretionary spending and consumption in these markets will grow dramatically in the next decade."

The minister added that SA could not afford to ignore the larger global picture in terms of growth and development. "Any long-term response to shifting markets has to take cognisance of the value of the booming outbound flows from emerging markets," the minister said.

"Forecasts indicate that, by 2013, the number of inbound arrivals to emerging countries will outnumber those to the developed world thanks to the new emerging middle class. Our pre-financial crisis market segmentation and understanding of the required product diversification are continually reviewed. We will continue to carefully balance domestic, regional and international tourism, the mix of high-value and middle-value markets, as well as business, leisure and events tourism.

"In terms of our consumers, we know they are more price-conscious and have a more value-oriented mindset. They seek more customised and authentic offerings and many of them want to travel responsibly.

"When we plan on how to cater for these new consumers, we should therefore continue to explore new frontiers both in terms of product innovation and the opportunities offered by the rapidly evolving technology and information landscape.

"Above all, it remains vital that we continue to align our value proposition, branding, product diversification endeavours and marketing strategy with evolving consumer preferences," the minister said.