Diplomatist Magazine Diplomatist October 2019

AFRICA DIARY companies and other companies from both countries to explore cooperation opportunities in the oil and gas sectors of both countries. How are you promoting tourism in South Africa? With a population of approximately 55 million and a land area of 1.27 million sq. km (nearly ﬁ ve times the size of the UK), South Africa’s resource base for tourism is phenomenal. The country’s tourism attractiveness lies in its diversity. Some of the features which make South Africa an incredibly attractive tourism proposition include: accessible wildlife, varied and impressive scenery, unspoiled wilderness areas, diverse cultures (in particular traditional and township African cultures), generally sunny and hot climate, no ‘jet lag’ from Europe, a well-developed infrastructure and virtually unlimited opportunities for special interest activities such as whale-watching, wild water rafting, hiking, bird-watching, bush survival, deep-sea ﬁ shing, hunting and diving. In addition, unique archaeological sites and battleﬁ elds, the availability of excellent conference and exhibition facilities, a wide range of sporting facilities, good communication and medical services, internationally known attractions (Table Mountain, Cape of Good Hope, Sun City, Kruger National Park, Garden Route, Maputaland) and unrivaled opportunities to visit other regional internationally known attractions (e.g. Victoria Falls and the Okavango Swamps) make South Africa an almost complete tourist destination. Tourism has become a ﬁ ercely competitive business. For tourism destinations the world over, as indeed for South Africa, competitive advantage is no longer natural, but increasingly man-made - driven by science, technology, information and innovation. As such, it is not simply the stock of natural resources of South Africa that will determine her competitiveness in tourism, but rather, how these resources are managed and to what extent they are complemented with man-made innovations. In this regard, South Africa scores well on three important fronts. First, the already well-established network of national parks (covering some 6.3% of the surface area of the country) and private nature reserves are very much ‘on trend’ with the demands of the increasingly environmentally sensitive visitor. Second, some companies are already leaders in global ‘best practice’ in ecotourism, while others have created Disneyland-like attractions in South Africa, boosting the country’s name internationally. Third, the recent successful political transformation in South Africa has virtually ‘opened’ the country’s tourism potential to the rest of the world and indeed to the previously neglected groups in society. It is not surprising that the World Tourism Organisation in its review of African tourism considers South Africa to be “one of the most promising tourism destinations of the African continent”. The Horwath 1995 Worldwide Hotel Industry Review concluded that South Africa’s tourism potential “is outstanding, providing peace and harmony remain”. Notwithstanding all the above-mentioned advantages, South Africa has not been able to realise its full potential in tourism. As such, the contribution of tourism to employment, small business development, and income and foreign exchange earnings remains limited. South Africa has been actively involved in multilateral organizations, such as the India- Brazil-South Africa Dialogue Forum (IBSA), the New Asia-Africa Strategic Partnership (NAASP), the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Co-operation (IORARC), and the BRICS. How is South Africa engaging with India through multilateral initiatives? South Africa’s will continue to highlight the importance that South Africa attaches to IBSA, BRICS, IORA and other regional organisations as this provides IBSA and BRICS countries with a framework to address challenges such as UN Reform, South-South Cooperation and the work of Joint Working Groups. The conscious decision by South Africa and India to be part of the IBSA, BRICS IORA and other regional organisation groups will allow for a collective response from the IBSA platform and will suggest that IBSA remains relevant for a variety of reasons that makes IBSA distinct from several other countries. These features include basic character of emerging, large, plural and constitutional democracies with faith in global rule of law. This positions South Africa and India with potential scope for enhanced cooperation for democratisation of the UN among others. South Africa believes that the true reforms at the UN Security Council would come from the real eﬀ orts of IBSA. To realise this mandate, South Africa must cement its engagement and position in IBSA. These formations must emphasize the importance of strengthening the Cooperation and coordination on IBSA, BRICS on various Working Groups on Agriculture, Energy, Health, Social Development, Human Settlement, Trade and Investment, Environment and Science and Technology, Tourism, Defence Cooperation. Thus, South Africa through its trusted friend India will cooperate side by side to further deliberate on South-South Cooperation as well as sharing experiences through Academic and Experts Forums calling for the strengthening of trade cooperation, role of IBSA, BRICS and IORA at multilateral forums, maritime cooperation, mainstreaming gender and SDGs, strengthening South-South Cooperation through IBSA and strengthening of the academic network amongst Institutions of Higher Learning in IBSA and BRICS countries.  52 • Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 7 • Issue 10 • October 2019, Noida

Diplomatist Magazine Diplomatist October 2019 | Page 52