Chairperson, when we celebrated the 50-day countdown to our hosting of the World Cup two weeks ago, we reflected on how far we had come since May 2004 when we won that right to host the World Cup. As South Africans and as a host country, we have consistently defied conventional wisdom and exceeded expectations in so many areas. The World Cup has brought the three levels of government, the private sector, NGOs and citizens together across all the provinces. We have all worked very hard and the time is almost upon us to reap the rewards of our combined efforts.
We all know that tourism is one of the pinnacle sectors in terms of its capacity to fuel global economic activity and also the creation of employment. In 2009 we saw a worldwide downturn in tourism and travel activity, with figures from the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, UNWTO, which indicated that international arrivals fell by an estimated 4% compared to 2008. However, in South Africa, we managed to outperform not only that trend, but also the performance of most of our international competitors. We saw growth in foreign arrivals of 3,6% which is especially positive considering that many of our primary source markets in Europe were severely depressed in terms of consumer spending.
In total, we welcomed more than 9,9 million foreign arrivals to South Africa last year. Our government has identified tourism as a key contributing sector to the medium-term strategic priorities for growing the economy and creating decent work. Last year, that led to the decision to form a new standalone national Department of Tourism. Over the next three years we will be phasing in the filling of positions in the department in line with our financial resources.
The department recognises the national priority of creating decent employment through inclusive economic growth. In this regard, we will increase job and entrepreneurial opportunities and also encourage the meaningful participation of previously disadvantaged communities and individuals. In the medium-term, the department aims to increase investment in the tourism sector and the internal tourism, but also to deliver a world- class visitor experience. We will also focus on entrenching a culture of tourism amongst South Africans and increasing the sector's contribution to job creation and economic growth.
The department is now finalising the National Tourism Sector Strategy which will set out a vision for a successful world-leading industry and an ambitious path to achieve this. It is envisaged that this strategy will address the government and the tourism industry's objectives in terms of, amongst others, economic growth, investment and transformation within the travel and tourism sector. It will also talk to people development, rural development, job creation, domestic and foreign arrivals with very specific targets and the delivery of a world-class visitor experience. We are planning to launch the strategy for public comment before the end of May 2010.
The Tourism Grading Council of South Africa, which forms part of South African Tourism, successfully completed a review of the grading system for accommodation establishments. This will improve levels of service delivery in the implementation of the grading system across our country. One of the actions from the review recommendations was the recent appointment of provincial master assessors who will focus on strengthening relationships with the industry, but they will also be assisting provinces in achieving their competitive potential.
We are also constantly expanding our stock of quality assured accommodation establishments across the country. A total of 7 710 establishments had been graded as of September 2009 compared to about 4 600 in 2005. The development of World Cup infrastructure will impact positively on growth in various ways and across numerous industries. We will host a truly world- class event which will enhance South Africa as a tourism destination within the global community. The championship will be a showcase that will introduce South Africa to millions more visitors. The media coverage and the focus on our country in the run-up to and during the event will be unprecedented.
In terms of our own figures, we expect 34 billion people cumulatively to watch the World Cup from 11 June to 11 July. It is a massive opportunity. In terms of accommodation our department conducted an audit and we know that we have more than 200 000 rooms available across the country, which will more than fulfil the World Cup needs. We now have a very good picture of the number of accommodation establishments and rooms in our country and also very importantly, where they are situated. This will be our strategic advantage in terms of our future planning.
On the issue of pricing, we launched an investigation in February in response to persistent allegations of excessive price hikes and also the requests from members of the select and portfolio committees. I am happy to report, and that report has been made public, that the results of the audit indicated that the vast majority of our accommodation establishments were not charging exorbitant rates, and the facts and the figures are there for all members to analyse and look at. They are broken down by region, by city, and so on.
In terms of information provision, we have launched a national tourism contact centre for South Africa as a single point of call for all tourism- related information. The contact centre consists of a comprehensive website and the call centre which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and will serve customers in seven international languages. The website and the call centre provide a wide range of accurate and up-to-date information on tourism and travel.
This includes information on attractions, activities, experiences, services, restaurants and routes across the entire country. In addition to that, on Vote 35 we have state-of-the-art visitor information centres. A number of members were present when we did that. That was in Mangaung, Polokwane and Nelson Mandela Metro, Mbombela and Rustenburg. These centres will leave a lasting legacy for tourism in terms of information provision and service excellence.
All across our country, our stadiums have all been designed as world-class, multipurpose facilities, capable of hosting not only sporting events, but also music and cultural events. Through ensuring that there is an integrated and co-ordinated intergovernmental approach to securing the hosting rights of strategic international events, the department intends to boost future events tourism. We have the figures available for members as to how many conferences and international meetings were held, how many we have won the rights to host over the next few years, and how many of those we are in the process of bidding for.
We also recognise the significance of national events as a source of domestic tourism revenue that we put in place to drive growth in this area. These mechanisms will include packaging easily accessible information about provincial and local events through interdepartmental information systems.
On behalf of the department, I would like to thank the chairperson, hon Gamede, and members of our select committee for their input and dedication. I am also grateful to our dedicated colleagues in the department and the Acting Director-General, Mr Dirk van Schalkwyk, for their commitment and hard work. I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome the newly appointed Director-General Mr Kingsley Makhubela, who is sitting in the public gallery there. At present, he is the Deputy Director-General in the Department of International Relations and Co-operation, Chief of Protocol in Government. He will start as our director-general on 1 June.
I would also like to thank the Deputy Minister for her passion for the industry and for her support. To the hundreds of thousands of visitors that we are expecting to the World Cup, I would like to welcome them and encourage them to enjoy our special South African hospitality and the diversity that our provinces are going to offer. It is an experience that you will never forget. To my fellow South Africans, our time has come. Let's host that event with distinction. I thank you. [Applause.]