COMMUNIQUE

SADC TOURISM MINISTERS MEETING HELD IN PROTEA RYALLS HOTEL, BLANTYRE,
MALAWI ON 21^ST APRIL, 2010

Ministers of Tourism in the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) region met on 21^st April, 2010 to
review the state of tourism and programmes in the region.  Tourism Ministers, Deputy Ministers and
Senior Officials in tourism came from Angola, Botswana, DR Congo, Lesotho,
Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and
Zimbabwe.

The host
Minister, Honourable Anna Kachiko , MP was unanimously elected to Chair the
meeting.  The Minister welcomed her
fellow Ministers, delegates and RETOSA Secretariat to the warm hart of Africa,
Malawi and indicated that the Government and people of Malawi felt honoured to
host this meeting which had a record attendance in participation from SADC
Member States.

Ministers noted that remarkable progress has been made in
the implementation of the SADC UNIVISA. 
They noted that already five Member States had volunteered to spearhead
the implementation of the UNIVISA.  The
five countries are: Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.  Ministers commended this volunteer group and
urged other Member States to take the necessary steps to come on board.  In order to expedite full implementation of
the UNIVISA, the Ministers shared experiences from the volunteer
countries. 

They recommended to the other
Member States that in order to expedite implementation they should use shared
information as they go through their internal processes in order to join the pilot
group.  The pilot group is expected to
start implementing the UNIVISA by June, 2010.

Ministers noted that South Africa was fully prepared to
host the 2010 World Cup.  Ministers applauded
South Africa for the good work and they also commended the whole region for
supporting the host nation.  Ministers
agreed that there are still opportunities for the region to benefit from this
Mega Event.  They therefore urged Member
States to put in place programmes that will facilitate the easy movement of
visitors coming to South Africa for the World Cup to travel easily to other
Member States.  Ministers also urged that
the movement of SADC nationals wishing to go to South Africa for the World Cup
be facilitated. 

Ministers discussed the Festival of Africa incorporating
the Southern African Tourism Village to be held at the Melrose Arch,
Johannesburg, South Africa.  Ministers
noted that this was a great opportunity for Member States in the region to
promote tourism attractions, investments and culture to the visitors of the
2010 FIFA World Cup and the rest of the world. 

 The activities during the
festival will include arts and craft markets, tourism exhibitions, investment
opportunities workshops and the promotion of the Transfrontier Conservation
Areas (TFCAs) in the Southern African region. 
These provide the Regional Tourism Organization of Southern Africa
(RETOSA) the platform to position and market the region as a single but multi-faceted
tourism destination.  Ministers therefore
urged all Member States to commit and participate in this initiative so as to
benefit from the 2010 FIFA World Cup and showcase regional support for the
event.

 Ministers also noted during the meeting the programmes that
had been undertaken by RETOSA.  Ministers
directed the Board of RETOSA to develop a strategy for growth and development
of tourism in the region.  Ministers
indicated that the strategy should ensure equity and complementary tourism
development across the region. 

 Ministers ended their meeting by commending the outgoing RETOSA
Board Chairperson Mrs. Berthe Akatshi Osaka of the DR Congo, for a job well
done.  They welcomed and wished well the
incoming Chairperson of the RETOSA Board, Dr. S. Maunganidze of Zimbabwe.