During her department’s budget vote in Parliament this week, Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille highlighted the impressive growth of South Africa’s tourism sector. Despite facing a reduced budget, her department is committed to addressing critical tasks such as expanding air access, visa reform, transformation, and supporting small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs).
Remarkable Growth in 2023 and Early 2024
De Lille announced that South Africa’s tourism sector had shown remarkable growth in 2023, with a 48.9% increase from 2022. From January to May 2024, international arrivals reached 3.8 million, marking a 9.7% increase compared to the same period in 2023. Foreign direct spend grew by 27.5% year on year, amounting to R95.1 billion in the 2023/4 financial year. Tourism’s contribution to GDP also rose by 8.8%, reaching an estimated R458.9 billion in 2023.
Budget Constraints and Allocation
Despite these positive figures, the Department of Tourism’s budget has been reduced by approximately 3% to R2.3 billion. Of this, R1.2 billion will be allocated to South African Tourism for marketing the country both locally and internationally.
Addressing Key Challenges
Minister de Lille addressed two significant challenges facing the tourism industry: visas and tourist transport operator licenses.
On the visa front, South Africa has made substantial progress, with residents from 132 countries now able to enter without a visa for up to 90 days. The department will collaborate with the Department of Home Affairs and Operation Vulindlela to monitor visa progress, with a particular focus on the Chinese and Indian markets. De Lille has scheduled a meeting with the new Minister of Home Affairs, Leon Schreiber, to discuss this issue further.
Tourist Transport Operating Licenses
Regarding tourist transport operating licenses, de Lille acknowledged the Department of Transport’s efforts to clear application backlogs. She welcomed the signing of the National Land Transport Amendment Bill into law in June, which is expected to improve system efficiency.
“From June 2023 to June 2024, the NPTR held 19 adjudication meetings and processed a total of 952 applications for operating licenses for tourist transport services. There is still much work to be done to enhance the system’s efficiency and effectiveness, and we look forward to collaborating with the Minister of Transport on this key issue,” de Lille stated.
Air Access Strategy
De Lille emphasized the importance of increasing international flights into South Africa. A National Air Access strategy has been developed and will be presented to Cabinet in the coming months.