Apps, panic buttons, training for tourism monitors — Plans to beef up tourist safety taking shape

Stakeholders in the tourism sector have agreed to work together to address safety issues in an effort to bolster the sector and ensure tourists feel safe when they visit South Africa. 

On Monday tourism minister Patricia de Lille met with MECs from all nine provinces together with the private sector and tourism associations for a forum where they came up with plans to improve the safety of tourists. 

Among other things, the department said it has been working with police and has developed safety tips which have a QR-code that allows tourists to scan the tips and access them electronically.

The private sector intends to roll out a safety app called Secura which is solely dedicated to tourist safety nationally. The app integrates affordable emergency medical responses, breakdowns and crime-related incident assistance. 

It includes Secura’s panic button which is accessible via mobile phone or in the form of a panic button on the app which connects travellers and tourism stakeholders to hundreds of emergency responders when every second counts. These responders are equipped to assist in any emergency situation. 

De Lille said the department is reviewing the training curriculum for tourism monitors, where they are recruited from and where they are deployed to in terms of identified hotspots and medium to high crime areas. 

The initial 2023/24 financial year departmental budget is R174.5m to train 1,845 tourism monitors across the country, she said.

“I have asked the department to increase the number of tourism monitors we deploy to 2,215 tourism monitors. 

“I made a call on the various MECs to also make part of their expanded public works programme budget available to fund the training of more tourism monitors."

The monitors will be deployed to all provinces at top tourist attractions and national parks, especially high and medium risk areas. 

"We have consulted the private sector for their input into the training of the tourism monitors," said De Lille.

On cases relating to international tourists, she said the department has been in engagements with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) over the past two years to obtain guidance on ways to speed up cases involving international tourists, given their limited time in the country after a crime has been committed. 

“At a workshop held in August 2022, the NPA informed the department the president has agreed to legislation on the use of audio and visual links to present evidence in court. 

“This would entail the possibility of instituting virtual court proceedings which would allow tourists to be part of  proceedings even if they had left the country before the conclusion of a case. Alternatively tourists could connect through audiovisual link at the South African missions in their countries of origin.”

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