Tourism industry stakeholders gathered for the ‘Together for Traveller Safety’ webinar last week to discuss the current state of traveller safety and the collective measures needed to enhance safety in South Africa.

The webinar attracted significant interest, with close to 500 people registering to attend.

“The live audience peaked at around 300 participants, who remained engaged throughout the session. Attendees represented a diverse cross-section of the tourism industry, including local product and experience providers, as well as international tour operators, while participation spanned the globe,” said Natalia Rosa, CEO of communications agency Big Ambitions.

She told Tourism Update that European countries such as the Netherlands, Italy, France, and Spain were particularly well represented.

Current safety challenges

Some of the key safety challenges discussed in the webinar included:

• Incidents affecting self-drive tourists, including temporary abductions, robberies, and car hijackings.
• Scams and fraud, e.g. tourists being told they needed to pay for permits, ATM card skimming, and cellphone banking fraud.
• Smash and grab incidents at traffic lights, petrol stations, and shopping centres.
• Robberies in various hotspots around the country.
• Lack of proactive communication to prepare and empower travellers with safety information.

“While these incidents remain isolated and tourism-specific crime statistics are much lower than broader national crime rates, the industry acknowledges that even one incident is too many. A key focus is on better equipping and informing travellers to mitigate risks,” Rosa said.

She added that it was important to note that the teams around South Africa who assisted with incident management and victim support responded to a variety of incidents, not all crime-related, i.e. accidents, tourists losing their way, animal encounters, etc.

How safety concerns are being addressed

To ensure the safety and wellbeing of visitors, a collaborative effort between the private sector and government, called the National Tourism Safety Forum (NTSF) was established. Specific initiatives by the NTSF include:

• Tourism Safety Monitors deployed at key attractions across provinces.
• Private-sector-funded initiatives to improve monitoring and response, e.g. camera installations in crime hotspots in Mpumalanga.
• Plans for enhanced community engagement around tourism sites to get local buy-in.

“In addition, private-sector and public-sector stakeholders across the country have established clusters of teams to provide world-class incident response and communications when incidents do occur.

“To deal proactively with any potential issues, several private-sector partners have established FAQs that tourism trade stakeholders can use to inform their guests, visitors, travellers, etc. These can be found on the Traveltosouthafrica.org website and will be updated continuously based on industry feedback,” said Rosa, who is also part of the team that established the website.

Implementing effective incident management

Key elements of effective tourism incident management covered in the webinar included:

• Clear, ongoing communication with the traveller, with mobile connectivity and emergency contact info.
• Quick initial assessment of the situation (medical or security incident, how many were impacted, etc).
• Activating support via channels like the National Tourism Safety line which coordinates multiple resources. The number is +27 83 318 2475.
• Gathering detailed information to enable assistance (e.g. insurance, next of kin, embassy info).
• Providing practical and empathetic support to victims by becoming a Tourism Angel or offering interpretation services should travellers speak a foreign language.
• Thorough data gathering and follow-up to refine prevention efforts.

How industry can communicate safety to travellers

The webinar provided detailed guidance (do’s and don’ts) on how the industry should communicate with travellers about safety:

Do:

• Use the compiled FAQs, tips and guides to proactively discuss safety and wellbeing.
• Provide accurate, up-to-date info and avoid speculation.
• Show empathy for concerns and avoid downplaying them.
• Demonstrate the extensive safety initiatives and support services in place.
• Highlight that the vast majority of travellers visiting South Africa have a wonderful trip and that South Africa remains a top destination.

Don't:

• Avoid the conversation or provide no information.
• Dismiss concerns by saying incidents happen everywhere.
• Make unrealistic guarantees about 100% safety.
• Speak directly to media on sensitive issues – rather direct queries to the central comms team.

“Responsible, proactive communication is key. The industry has a duty of care to inform and equip travellers,” Rosa noted.

How industry can contribute to the safety conversation

The strong attendance at the webinar demonstrated the commitment to prioritising traveller safety across public and private sector tourism and Rosa provided the following points on how the rest of the industry could join the safety conversation:

• Use the FAQs, guides, and resources available on traveltosouthafrica.org to communicate proactively with clients about safety considerations and measures. “We will be translating these FAQs into a variety of languages.
• Forward any news articles or social media posts related to safety concerns or incidents in South Africa to the central communications team at comms@visitsouthafrica.info or info@traveltosouthafrica.org.
• Share any questions or concerns received from clients about traveling to South Africa with the communications team so that they can be addressed in future resource updates.
• Communicate responsibly and direct any media enquiries related to safety or crisis management to the designated communications team to ensure alignment and consistency in messaging.
• Regularly check traveltosouthafrica.org for updates to safety resources and information.
• Promote the SECURA Traveller app and emergency contact information to guests as a key safety tool. Readers can learn more about SECURA Traveller here.
• Train frontline staff using the provided safety and victim support checklists to ensure consistent, empathetic, and effective incident response.

“By actively participating in these initiatives, the industry can play a vital role in disseminating accurate information, managing concerns, and supporting a unified safety response strategy,” said Rosa.

‘Still much to do’

Speaking on the webinar, she said: “The overarching takeaway is that while we sometimes cannot prevent incidents from happening, but as an industry, along with our public sector partners, we are confronting them transparently and decisively.”

Rosa did, however, caution that safety required everyone to play their part – from the smallest B&B to the largest global tour operator, from the night receptionist and the car-rental clerk to the manager of a guesthouse or DMC.

“It is incumbent on us to work together to proactively inform travellers, improve prevention and deliver a caring, professional response when incidents occur.

“There is still much to do, but the wheels are in motion. Honest conversations are an important step. An industry that puts the wellbeing of its guests first will always be an appealing destination, and that is what South Africa is all about,” Rosa concluded.