At the dawn of the seventh administration, South Africa has been presented with a golden opportunity to design the future of tourism for the next five to 10 years and to place the sector firmly in the spotlight of national dialogues on inclusive economic growth and job creation.

Speaking at the first in a series of media briefings to highlight the sector’s undervalued role in economic growth, Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille highlighted that tourism consistently contributes more to South Africa’s GDP than the powerhouse industries of manufacturing, mining and agriculture.

According to Statistics South Africa figures, the trade, catering and accommodation sectors contributed R520 million (€26m) to the country’s GDP in the first quarter of the year, second only to the finance, real estate and business service sector (R1.1 billion (€55m)); and the personal services sector (R747.5m (€37.4m)). By comparison, manufacturing contributed R517m (€25.9m); mining R201m (€10m); and agriculture, forestry and fisheries R126.4m (€6.3m).

“The tourism sector is often overlooked as a key economic sector yet it is a significant contributor and driver of economic growth and job creation. As we commence the seventh administration, our mission is to elevate the profile of tourism by supporting efforts to grow the sector and demonstrating this growth and the sector’s impact on the economy and communities,” said De Lille.

Time to implement

She stressed the need for urgency to implement the numerous plans laid out for the sector – including the Tourism Sector Masterplan adopted by cabinet in October 2023, and the Tourism Sector Strategic Plan.

“We have an opportunity now to design the future of tourism for the next five to 10 years and it is not going to be business as usual. We have to drive urgency in the implementation of our plans for us to succeed in reaching our targets,” said De Lille.

The overarching target for the Department of Tourism and South African Tourism is to increase tourist arrivals to 15 million by 2030, with strategic government initiatives being heavily driven by inputs from private sector associations.

SA Tourism CEO Nombulelo Guliwe said that government messaging around tourism needed to shift from what the plans were, to highlighting their on-the-ground impacts.

“Tourism contributes to a host of other sectors, and that is the best opportunity for us, because we never really tell that story of how far-reaching it is. And as we go through the objectives of economic growth, we need to not just recite the numbers, but also share the stories of people who have benefitted from tourism.”

Taking action

The Department has just finalised a two-day departmental dialogue with SA Tourism to assess the current state of the industry and its challenges and growth opportunities.

“The next part of the plan is to map where we want to go and how we will get to the 15 million arrivals by 2030. These action plans will be implemented together with the private sector inclusive of the whole tourism value chain,” said De Lille.

The Department has aligned its actions with the top three priorities of the newly-formed Government of National Unity (GNU) – namely to drive inclusive growth and job creation; reduce poverty and tackle the high cost of living; and to build a capable, ethical and developmental state.

“To address the first two priorities of the GNU, we will work to increase the number of jobs created in the tourism sector by driving greater implementation of programmes which support the private sector to create more jobs.”

De Lille is meeting with the newly-appointed Ministers of Home Affairs; Transport; and Sports, Arts and Culture; to facilitate improvements in the visa regime, increase the number of direct flights to South Africa, resolve tourist operator transport licensing issues at the National Public Transport Regulator, and invest in infrastructure and tourism sites.

“We have already signed a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture (DSAC) to assist with the maintenance and upgrades of heritage sites,” De Lille said, explaining that five initial heritage sites – including Robben Island – would be targeted by the intervention.

De Lille is also pushing DSAC Minister Gayton McKenzie to revive efforts to bring Formula 1 to South Africa, under the broader aim of boosting the sports tourism sector.

The Department has also engaged with University of Johannesburg professors Arthur Mutambara and Chris Landsberg, to inform the development of demand-led skills programmes and greater use of AI to enhance tourism operations.