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Moeketsi Mosola is Chief Executive Officer of SA Tourism. He was previously the COO of South Africa Tourism and prior to that the chief director of tourism development with the department of environmental affairs & tourism and has held several senior appointments in provincial and national government.

He was also responsible for marketing key transfrontier investment opportunities such as the Lubombo Spatial Development Initiative and the GKG (Gaza-Kruger Gonaezhou) tourism and biodiversity corridor. Our Editor Subhash Motwani, a South Africa Fundi(Expert) caught up with Mr Mosola during the South Africa Incountry Famil held in Goa between 31st August and 2nd September 2005.

Mr Mosola, earlier you were the COO of SA Tourism. How has your responsibility changed after you have become the CEO?
The Chief Operating Officer (COO) of South Africa Tourism is responsible for running the domestic operations which is largely our head office and the South Africa Market as well as the international operations. These are responsibilities which are on a day-to-day basis. As I am here now for this event, it is the COO out there who is running the business. As a CEO, I am responsible for some key critical issues. It is my responsibility to develop global tourism growth strategies for SA Tourism and present it to my board for approval.

It is also my responsibility to make budgetary decisions. So once the strategies have been approved, I make budgetary decisions as to what percentage of money goes where. I am not responsible for the marketing decisions as there are Marketing Managers such as Lance out here in India who makes the Marketing decisions.

I basically set the targets as to what we have to achieve in a certain time frame. I also spend my time in managing our stake holder relationships as well as with the trade to understand what their needs are. I communicate to them the vision of South Africa Tourism and ensure that there is a common mutual understanding between SA Tourism and the people we work with to make sure the growth of our destination. Lastly, I am also responsible for the business development I spend a lot of time in understanding what are the future opportunities of growth for the South Africa Tourism market.

In short, I am now responsible at a much higher strategic level whereas the COO looks after the day to day operations. I make sure that our team is always motivated. I make sure that every member of the team is heading in the same direction; that everybody is pulling their weight with the limited resources we have to meet our common objective of making South Africa grow as a tourism destination.

Which are the three major emerging markets for South Africa today?
India is right there at the top followed by China and Japan. It is very important to notice that all the three major emerging markets are located in Asia and what that tells you is that when we look at Asia, we look at it as the market of the future.

Currently we are getting 40000 people a year from India coming into South Africa and we would like it to reach 100000 and eventually 300000. We see the potential there and therefore India undoubtedly tops the list of emerging markets.

What are the challenges you are facing along the way?
One of the challenges is that we need to get better in terms of communicating with the Indian market so that the Indian traveller understands the value proposition that South Africa is. We need to be consistent in communicating that value and to make the traveller understand that by paying a certain amount of money this is what you get and therefore price does not become an issue.

Secondly, we need to deal with the whole perception of crime in South Africa and we plan doing that by taking media and celebrities to South Africa so that they come back to India & narrate their experience and share with the Indian traveller how safe and secure South Africa is as a destination. We are continuing to try hard in terms of achieving that.

Lastly, I think South Africa as a destination has come a long way in terms of its ability to be able to meet the dietary requirements of the Indian traveller. In the last four years or so, we have improved so much and now it has become very easy for the Indian traveller to get the type of meals that suit their requirement. If we deal with these issues collectively along with our partners which comprise of the inbound tour operators in South Africa as well as the feedback we get from the trade as well as the traveller out here, I am confident we will be able to meet our objective of having more visitors from India into South Africa. I am extremely excited especially with the kind of patronage we have got out here, it is simply incredible.

How do you plan to enlighten the Indian traveller that there are Fundis or Experts on South Africa who know the destination better than most travel agents and can assist them in their travel needs in a more professional way?
One of the things we are addressing immediately is the process of revamping the Fundi programme. It is a great product -one I am personally proud of as I was instrumental in putting it together. We like to get better, although even now it is a great product. The next Fundi programme is going to be very focused to cater to the Indian market through which the Trade will not only be able to understand South Africa but also the Indian consumers so that they can match the right people with the right product.

All our specialists will be on our website. So for example, anybody calling our office will be referred to the nearest Fundi (Expert) and we will also make sure that those people are very high amongst our list and also in terms of incentivizing our Fundis through familiarization trips into South Africa. Fundi is going to get even better and I am extremely excited in relaunching it sometime in April next year. The new programme will be more focused to meet the needs of the Indian traveller and it will be a very highly skilled product.

What are the initiatives in order to market South Africa in India for the immediate future?
Obviously after the South Africa In country FAMIL which is held currently in Goa, will be followed up by my colleagues Lance and Medha here in India. They will be in constant touch with all our Trade Partners we have in India.

They will engage with them and this is a major activity as now we would require sales steps to encourage more travellers to visit South Africa. Secondly, we are going to not only invite the media but also the trade to visit South Africa and get first hand knowledge. We are also launching a big consumer campaign in February 2006 directed at the consumer in order to raise their level of awareness and improving the quality of awareness that people have about South Africa. So these are some of the key critical activities that we are going to take up in the next few months.

How do you plan to change the perception of people that there is much more to South Africa besides Capetown, Sun City and the Garden Route?
This FAMIL was our first initiative to enlighten our Trade Partners and the media about various provinces such as Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Gauteng and so on. It was good to see that a lot of people were surprised to see the diversity of the product but you have to be more clever than that. You have to give people what they want to get. Capetown is no doubt popular. So, we are not going to tell people that we are not giving you Capetown. Instead, we will tell them that we will not only give you Capetown, we are going to give you much more. And as they explore more places beyond the Capetown, Sun City and the Garden Route, they will realize that this is just the tip of the iceberg as South Africa has much more to offer in terms of diversity.

There is Kruger National Park, there is Kwa-Zulu Natal, there is Pilansberg and so on. The strategy therefore is to deliver first what is popular and build at the back of that and I think the more people do that and the more we educate our Trade partners, the more the people will be confident in knowing the diversity of our country.

Which is your preferred destination in South Africa?
The way I look at it is, I would like to travel to a place depending on the kind of experience I want to have. If I want a beach holiday where I can just sit and laze around, I will go to KZN (Kwa-Zulu Natal) because it has such a wonderful climate - as good as Goa. If I want lovely scenic beauty and nightlife, I will get into my car and drive for hours, I will go to Capetown and the Garden Route. If I want to experience wildlife and get lost in the bush, I will go to the Limpopo Province or Mpumalanga and stay in one of the game reserves. If I want night clubbing and culture, then there is no better place than Johannesburg. So depending on the type of holiday experience I want, I can go to the place that I want as in South Africa you are spoilt for choice.

What has your experience been with India and the people out here?
India is such an incredible country. I have fallen in love with this country and I always tell my colleagues that whenever I am out here, I just get a couple of days and I have to leave and I always miss out on the opportunity to see this colourful country. I have intentions to come back here for a holiday and I would like my family to see the country.

The people that we have so far dealt with i.e. our Trade Partners out here, we hold them in high esteem especially with the level of integrity they have shown and interest taken in promoting South Africa in India. The level of passion for our country, the level of intelligence is simply outstanding. The kind of warmth and affection that I have received in my visits here has been unmatched and I feel myself to be extremely lucky to experience such high standards of hospitality. That intrigues me to see so much of your country.

In what way during and after post apartheid has Nelson Mandela influenced the people of South Africa?
One thing that I will always appreciate about Nelson Mandela is his incredible leadership qualities. He is truly one of the greatest leaders of all times and a living legend. I have learnt so much especially on issues of leadership and that leadership is not about control but it is about inspiring people to be the best in their field of work. A leader can be strong but not arrogant. Leaders lead from the front. I have also learnt concepts about power and that the greatest show of power is not how much you can protect the various intrusions in the society but power should be used to protect those who are most vulnerable. These are some of the fundamental things that Nelson Mandela has demonstrated so well. And as a young South African it has been a wonderful experience to work with him and its an experience that I will treasure for the rest of my life.

What is your message to the readers?
South Africa as a destination is truly the world in one country. For the travellers who plan to visit South Africa I would say that visiting our country is not just a vacation but when you visit South Africa you learn to grow and you get blown away by the fact as to how such a small country has been able to achieve so much in such a short span of time.

We tell people who want to visit our country that you should be able to share with our people our history, our culture and our heritage in a very open environment and we guarantee the Indian travellers that when they come back to India, they will feel atleast 2 inches taller for they would have grown significantly after having a wonderful holiday. So South Africa is not only about a fun holiday destination but it's a place where people can learn and grow to be better people and that's what we are offering and that's why we would like many of our Indian friends to come to South Africa and experience.

Moeketsi Mosola
Moeketsi Mosola was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of South Africa Tourism in November 2004. Previously, he held the Chief Operating Officer position since August 2001.
HAVING held several senior appointments with both provincial and national government departments, Mr Mosola held the post - immediately prior to his appointment with South African Tourism - of Chief Director: Tourism Development with the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (D.E.A.T) in Pretoria.
His responsibilities covered a number of high profile initiatives including tourism business development and the management of the Tourism Enterprise Programme in conjunction with the Business Trust, aimed at the development of 1 000 black SMMEs over a four-year period.
Holding a number of high level, business-related qualifications as well as an MA in Economics and a BA in Neuroscience and Psychology, Mosola trained, studied and lived in North America for a total of eight years, latterly as the 1998 Nelson Mandela Economic Scholar at the University of Houston, Texas. Prior to this, he studied at such prestigious institutions as Harvard University in Boston as well as studied and lectured with the Economics faculties at the University of the Witwaterstrand in Johannesburg and the University of Colorado in Boulder, USA.