Tourism's Potential: A Boost Worth Billions Of Rand

While 10M Tourists Flocked To The Country In 2016, The Sentiment Remains Dull For Listed Companies In The Sector. But Experts Appear To Think That There Is A Lot Of Scope For Growth, Arguing That Current Visitor Numbers Are In Fact ‘Not Amazing At All’. Some Say We Could, And Should, Be Aiming To Double This Figure In The Next Five Years.

- Shoks Mzolo

Tourism minister Derek Hanekom doesn’t tire of spreading the news that South Africa managed to break above the 10m mark of annual inbound tourist traffic last year, reflecting a jump of 13% on the previous year.

Citing the figures released by StatsSA, the minister noted at this year’s Meetings Africa indaba that overseas arrivals surged a “remarkable” 18%, to 2.5m, while the African continent was source of three-quarters of inbound traffic.

The next target appears to be 15m visitors, as Hanekom has said visitors can grow by 50% over the next five years.

Travel has been identified as a major economic driver in SA and across the world, SA Tourism CEO Sisa Ntshona noted at the indaba. The event attracts government officials and captains of industry from around the globe. While sharing Ntshona’s sentiment, and citing the country’s potential and unique features, Lulu King, a director at That Sales Lady, a consultancy, argues that SA is punching way below its weight.

Her point is supported by figures from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), which show that the local industry lags African and global averages by way of economic impact given the size of the market – even though the local sector provides jobs (direct or indirectly) to 1.6m people (projected to grow by an average of 3.7% per annum until 2026), and contributes 9.5%, or R375.5bn, to GDP.

In a roundabout way such numbers – pointing to SA’s relative under performance – affirm Hanekom and King’s belief that, whatever the realistic targets, the country could register significant growth in the next few years.

In order to boost visitor numbers, the department of tourism has opened offices in Nigeria and elsewhere to raise awareness of this tourist destination and is wooing business travellers from Russia. Entry rules for Russians visiting SA for leisure purposes have also been relaxed.