The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on South Africa’s tourism industry has highlighted the legacy issues the tourism industry has faced – one of these being to ensure a broader geographic spread of tourism.

In this first of a series of articles, Tourism Update explores the challenges facing the country’s ‘forgotten’ provinces – Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, North West and Limpopo.

Chief Operations Officer of SATSA, Hannelie du Toit, said that, for years, South Africa had been sold to the inbound market on the Kruger National Park and the struggle for liberation history in Cape Town, but that the demand from the international markets for new products was definitely there.

“Findings from South African Tourism and the Tourism Business Council of South Africa’s 2019 international roadshows showed an overwhelming response from international outbound operators for new products and itineraries,” said Du Toit.

She added that there needed to be more information shared on the accommodation establishments, activities and experiences to create awareness of routes and products in these less-visited regions. This would encourage trade to book and create brochures for these regions.

CEO of Harvest Group Management, Adrienne Harris, told Tourism Update that, when it came to choosing a destination, potential tourists would look at what offered the most value in a short amount of time. “This is why Cape Town is so successful. There are many activities and offerings there that are easily accessible.”

She said the ‘forgotten’ provinces faced many challenges in marketing their offerings to the overseas traveller as many offered tourist attractions a considerable distance from each province’s major city.

A good example of this is the Northern Cape’s renowned Namaqualand flowers, which bring this normally stark landscape to life in August and September. It is a regular pilgrimage for many domestic travellers but a very long distance to travel from Johannesburg (1 159 kilometres) and Cape Town (564 kilometres).

“This requires tourists to have a longer holiday and that’s not always feasible for the inbound traveller,” said Harris.

She said, to date, travel to the ‘forgotten’ provinces had been mainly from the domestic market visiting friends and relatives. “Unfortunately, this purpose of travel doesn’t provide much economic stimulation.”

She further elaborated that accessibility for international travellers was a challenge. “Not all these provinces have reliable air accessibility for international arrivals, which will make it difficult for them to travel to these provinces.”

Director of the Industry Division and MD of Big Ambitions, Natalia Rosa, believes the first step to develop the provinces’ tourism is collaboration.

“It’s much harder to try and create awareness for one tourism business in a destination that is lesser known than to band together as tourism businesses and promote the destination,” Rosa told Tourism Update.

 “Tourism businesses in these provinces need to be proactive and active in associations and with their fellow tourism business owners.”