SOUTH African Tourism Australasia is tackling the problem of expats who are giving South Africa a bad name in Australia and New Zealand, says country manager, Lalie Ngozi.

Speaking at an SAT trade workshop in Cape Town, she said negative expats who were fuelling concerns about safety and security back home, represented the single biggest barrier to marketing South Africa in Australia. The negative image was affecting travel to Johannesburg and self-drive tourism in particular.

Ngozi said as part of its reputation management strategy, SAT Australasia had hosted and engaged with key South African businesses in Australia and with expat community representatives to motivate them to work with SAT to promote their home country. She suggested that SAT would sponsor the tickets of expats visiting South Africa if they brought some Australians/New Zealanders with them and promoted the country. “The fact is, all of them miss home and do come back for visits.”

Ngozi said the South African media, the South African tourism industry (in particular, tour operators, hotel staff and tour guides) and the public at large were also guilty of perpetuating perceptions that South Africa was crime-ridden and unsafe. Warnings by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade about crime and HIV also influenced travel insurance providers. Additional barriers included Oliver Tambo International Airport’s bad reputation for luggage security; reduced airlift and high airfares; retail chains that were not confident selling South Africa; and misconceptions of the travel time to South Africa compared with other popular destinations.  

Ngozi said there were 250 000 expats in New South Wales alone, who were influencing perceptions of South Africa in a market that nevertheless was showing continued growth. Outbound travel from Australia to South Africa grew by 30,4% from 2009 to total 107 905 visitors in 2010. Almost 20 000 Kiwis also headed to South Africa in 2010. The average length of stay in South Africa was 15 days.

She said the importance of the Australasian market should not be underestimated. The strength of the Australian dollar was driving increasing outbound long-haul travel with 6,8m overseas trips made by Australians in the year ending June 2010 – the equivalent of 31 overseas trips for every 100 Australian residents in 2009-10.