Provinces reap the benefits of the World Summit

"THE Johannesburg World Summit Company (Jowsco) has played a pivotal role in helping to attract a number of parallel events to the country, the success of which is expected to position South Africa as a business tourist destination on a par with the rest of the world." This according to Jowsco ceo, Moss Mashishi. KwaZulu-Natal hosted a high level delegation of international judges and lawyers at the inaugural EnviroLaw 2002 Conference. An estimated 500 members of the legal fraternity converged at Durban's International Convention Centre (ICC) last week. The North West Province has benefited from WSSD. North West Tourism Board's gm, Charles Ndabeni, said the province was able to attract three high profile pre-Summit conferences which together drew an estimated 8 000 visitors. The province hosted the African Youth Summit from August 15 to 19, followed by the International Youth Summit and International Women's Summit, both key meetings of the WSSD. The Western Cape also wrapped up the Responsible Tourism in Destinations Conference last week. Western Cape Tourism Board ceo, Mike Fabricius, said Cape Town had decided to host the conference to link in with the objectives of the WSSD. Delegates at the conference ratified the Cape Town declaration on Responsible Tourism in Destinations. The declaration, amongst others, recognised the guiding principles for responsible tourism which were identified in the areas of economic responsibility, social responsibility and environmental responsibility. "Maximising socio-economic benefits for local communities from tourism ventures while maintaining the quality of the environment is a major challenge facing all the stakeholders in the tourism industry," added Fabricius. (Miguel de Sousa)