Monday, August 2, 2010

Van Schalkwyk to woo Moscow on tourism?

Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk is off to Russia, along with President Jacob Zuma, the ministry said on Sunday.

"The Russian Federation is one of the fastest growing outbound tourist markets in the world," van Schalkwyk said in a statement. "We would like to make sure that we extend our co-operation in the field of tourism." Van Schalkwyk said he hoped to tackle issues such as direct air links, visa processes and the marketing of South Africa as a tourist destination.

Russia is bidding to host the Fifa World Cup in 2018 and South Africa would share its experiences with Moscow. South Africa and Russia signed a tourism co-operation agreement in 1998. The agreement was never implemented and as such, discussions will be held between the two countries on how to revive the signed agreement.

In 2009, South Africa saw 10 214 arrivals from the Russian Federation.

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