The Western Cape Government and Wesgro have commended the Joint Association Members Meeting Sessions (JAMMS) on their numerous initiatives taken to assist the tourism industry during the drought, and the impact that it is having on this vital sector.
JAMMS is a strategic partnership between Cape Town Tourism, FEDHASA Cape, SAACI Western Cape and SATSA Western Cape.
This team will be hosting a special industry session on Friday, 2 February 2018, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, to engage with relevant representatives from the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape Government. This is part of a concerted effort to ensure that the tourism sector is supported during this challenging time.
Tourism is vital to our economy. While international tourists only add 1% to the population of the Western Cape on average, they help support 300,000 jobs across the Western Cape. The JAMMS team are playing a critical role in making sure that this key economic driver is supported through these engagements, and by providing regular, updated information to the trade.
Western Cape Minister of Economic Opportunities, Alan Winde, said “tourism is an important driver of economic development and job creation in our economy and the sector must be supported through this difficult drought period. The various initiatives undertaken by JAMMS and the industry as a whole to save water and still provide a safe, enjoyable experience for visitors must be commended.”
Enver Malley, Leader Chairperson for JAMMS said: “This is indeed a crisis for the tourism industry and particularly for our members who are practitioners in this industry and all those they employ. The crisis is therefore not only about the scarcity of water, but also that of job security for all those in the industry. It is therefore critical that we work together to alleviate the impact the drought has on the tourism sector and also to ensure we protect the integrity of Cape Town as a tourism brand for now and the future. For this, we need to have effective business continuity plans and a consistent, cohesive and confident messaging that Cape Town is open for business. To this end, we are hosting an emergency JAMMS meeting on Friday where we expect to hear from the relevant authorities what the plans around day zero are, so as to gauge how it would impact on our businesses. It is once we have the facts, that we can effectively plan and inform our clients.”
