Speaking at the launch of the SA National Parks Week at the Augrabies Falls National Park on Sunday, 11 September 2022, Premier Zamani Saul said tourism has been contributing around 3.2% in the Northern Cape. Still, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it went down to 1%.

He said the sector has been showing signs of recovery as it is starting to contribute to the province's gross domestic product.

"It's going to take another two, three years to reach the levels of economic activities of tourism before the Covid-19 period. Many people in the tourism industry lost their jobs and some small tourism enterprises had to close. We strongly believe that with a bit of investment and support by the provincial government, the industry will be able to recover to pre-Covid levels of tourism activity."

The SA National Parks week, which is in its 17th year, is running until 16 September 2022.

The public will be able to access parks for free during the course of this week. Five of the six parks in the Northern Cape with free access are the /Ai/Ais-Richtersveld Transfrontier Park, Augrabies Falls National Park, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Mokala National Park and the Meerkat National Park.

The Namaqua National Park has been excluded due to the annual flower season. Saul said that the event aims to create awareness of conservation issues and also gives the public an understanding of SANParks' role as a custodian of the country's natural heritage.

OFM News