Tourism has the potential to pull South Africa out of its current downgrade, says SA Tourism CEO Sisa Ntshona.

Speaking at the SANParks Investment Summit this week, Ntshona said that on a positive note, the devaluation of the rand made South Africa a better value-for-money option for overseas tourists.

On Monday, Standard & Poor’s downgraded South Africa's credit rating to BB+, also known as junk status. The move followed President Jacob Zuma’s cabinet reshuffle on March 30, when former Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan was axed along with several other ministers and deputy ministers. On March 23, the rand inched to R12,50, while it was trading at R13,70 on Wednesday, April 5.

“With the crisis that we are in at the moment with this downgrade to junk status, tourism has the opportunity to show itself and work our way out of it,” said Ntshona. He emphasised that tourism brought foreign exchange into the country.

However, Ntshona said that unfortunately, the devaluation of the rand eroded SA Tourism’s marketing budget. The past few weeks have seen millions wiped off SA Tourism’s budget.

For the 2015/16 financial year, SA Tourism’s in-country spend, including marketing activities and overheads, sat at R422 million. The same budget would have given SA Tourism $33,76 million on March 23 and $32,26 million yesterday.

Ntshona also said the downgrade did not bode well for tourism.