South Africa rides tourism wave
10 May 2005
Some 6.7-million foreign tourists visited South Africa in 2004, the highest number ever. This means tourism more than doubled in the 10 years since South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994, when fewer than three million foreigners visited the country.
The figures were announced at Indaba 2005, SA's premier tourism exhibition, in Durban on the weekend - with Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk challenging the industry to break through the seven-million visitor threshold in 2005.
"2005 will be a year of intense focus as we gear up to face the challenges in building our global competitiveness," Van Schalkwyk said.
Of the 6.7-million visitors in 2004, 4.6-million came from Africa - an increase of 4.2% over 2003. These were largely from Southern, East and West Africa. Most regional visitors came from Lesotho, Swaziland and Botswana.
The top markets further afield were the UK, Germany and the US.
There were 11% more visitors from the US, and 10% more from Asia and Australasia, compared to 2003. Tourism from China increased by a remarkable 20%.
"Global travel has taken off again, and we've benefited from this resurgence," said SA Tourism's chief research officer, Didi Moyle. Global tourism grew by 2.7% in 2004. Currency strength - the rand averaged R7.55 to the dollar in 2003 and R6.43 in 2004 - is not seen as a "predictor of spend".
Tourism's contribution to South Africa's gross domestic was R93.6-billion in 2004, up from R72.5-billion in 2002. The sector employs 1.2-million people, with 36 000 new jobs created in the past two years.
Domestic tourism
Local tourism is also set to take off, with over R20-million to be invested in the domestic market in 2005. This is three times the amount invested in 2004. Local tourism contributes R47-billion to the economy.
A major part of domestic marketing is the Sho't Left campaign,
which includes a television show. This is the biggest-ever domestic marketing campain, launched by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, SA Tourism and the country's nine provincial tourism authorities.
The campaign showcases accessible holiday opportunities in all nine provinces, encouraging South Africans who have never travelled before to tour the country.
Travellers can book Sho't Left getaway deals from under R200 per person per night through members of the Association of Southern African Travel Agents. There's an average 40% discount on special low-season packages.
"We're trying to encourage people to take more short breaks more often," said Roshene Singh, SA Tourism's domestic marketing manager. "It costs the same as a pair of designer jeans." The campaign attracted 200 000 inquiries last year.
New hotels in the pipeline
It also emerged at Indaba that sites for 10 new hotels have been identified for the
Durban area alone. "In particular, we want to have a six-star hotel catering for the super-rich, so they can come here after they have been to an upmarket game lodge," Durban mayor Obed Mlaba told Business Day.
South Africa stood out as one of the hottest destinations in the 2004 World's Best Awards survey by international travel magazine Travel & Leisure. Of the 10 "best hotels in the world" for 2004, five are in South Africa. The Saxon hotel in Sandton, Gauteng, has been voted best boutique hotel in the world four times, up against many established international hotels in Tokyo, the US and Singapore.
The other four SA hotels ranked by Travel & Leisure were Londolozi Private Game Reserve in Mpumalanga (4th), Bushman's Kloof Wilderness Reserve in the Western Cape (5th), Mala Mala Game Reserve in Mpumalanga (7th), and Phinda Private Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal (8th).
BEE charter for tourism
On Sunday, Indaba saw the official launch
of the new Tourism Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) Charter. The charter sets out voluntary commitments by the
tourism sector to achieve empowerment targets over the next 10 years. The targets include ownership, strategic management, employment equity, skills development, preferential procurement, enterprise development and social development.
"For too many decades tourism has been the symbol of everything that was wrong with South Africa," Van Schalkwyk said at the launch. "Today we take the single most important step forward since 1994 in addressing that legacy, and ensuring that we break down the walls separating our communities from the benefits of tourism."
In 2003, only 6% of tourism companies listed on the JSE were under BEE ownership. The charter aims to increase this to 30% by 2014.
"The charter is intended to unlock the creativity, enthusiasm and knowledge of many South Africans who have not been able to productively participate in the industry," said
the department's chief director for tourism development, Mahandra Naidoo.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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