By Simon Nare
President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for concerted efforts between the government, private sector and communities to grow the tourism sector.
In his weekly newsletter published on Monday, the president said the tourism sector had the potential to be even larger than it currently was.
Ramaphosa said tourism was on the rise again following the slump due to Covid-19 pandemic, with the country recording around 8.5 million international tourist arrivals in 2023. These visitors spent over R95 billion.
He added that domestic tourism was the mainstay of the tourism economy and between January and July last year, South Africans took over 21 million trips to explore the country.
“We are scaling up a range of tourism promotion strategies to restore inbound tourism figures to pre-pandemic levels. These strategies include an improved tourism visa regime, streamlining the tour operator licence process, increased investment in tourism infrastructure and services, and improving safety and security at tourism sites,” he said.
Ramaphosa said the country was home to 12 Unesco World Heritage Sites. These included Robben Island and the Cradle of Humankind in Gauteng, which has among the largest known concentrations of hominid fossils in the world.
“Last year, the World Economic Forum ranked South Africa as Africa’s premier tourism destination. It said this was due to factors such as our business operating environment, information technology and tourism infrastructure and services.
“Beyond the substantial natural resource endowments of our beaches, national parks and biodiversity conservation areas, cultural and heritage tourism is also thriving in South Africa,” he wrote.
The president said the sector employed about 1.5 million people both directly and indirectly and through the Presidential Employment Stimulus, the government would continue to support job creation by providing work opportunities for young people as tourism monitors in different provinces and supporting tourism-related SMMEs.
He pointed out that tourism was a growth area for small business development and in line with the global shift towards sustainability, figures from South African Tourism showed that increasing numbers of new tourism ventures were centered around sustainable tourism and eco-friendly business practices.
He added that as the country would be hosting the G20 this year, the opportunity to profile and actively promote South Africa as a tourism destination of choice should not be missed.
He said the country would use the opportunity to promote the role of tourism in creating jobs and advancing sustainable development in the countries of the Global South.
“The Government of National Unity has identified the growth of tourism as a vital part of creating employment. In October last year, the Minister of Tourism released a new White Paper on the Development and Promotion of Tourism in South Africa. This will guide our approach to building a sustainable, competitive and inclusive tourism industry,” he said.
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