After the Bell: Tourists don’t know what they have until it’s gone

With the seasonal shift well under way, Saffas in the Northern Hemisphere must be looking longingly at their homeland. Down south, the sun’s out, animals are getting it on, and all of a sudden, everybody wants to get outdoors. 

Contrast our sunlit days with the UK — where almost a quarter of a million South Africans have put down roots since 2000, Stats SA told us in late March. There, it’s likely to be grey skies for at least the next nine months. Or the United States, another popular migration destination, which is on a razor’s edge between calm and chaos, where the unstable "genius" Donald Trump would have voters believe immigrants are now eating pets.

As the seemingly only sane Jackson (Janet) sang in her whispery-soft voice, "You Don’t Know What You've Got ’Til It’s Gone" (a remix of the Joni Mitchell folk classic, Big Yellow Taxi). As is often the case with pop, the accompanying music vid, filmed in rich sepia tones, is the highlight. 

Tourism Month

Appreciate what you have: September is Tourism Month in South Africa and it’s the very best reason to get out and explore our beautiful country. It’s no utopia, but it’s ours – and for an entire month, South Africans can take advantage of preferential pricing and even free access to some of the country’s biggest tourist attractions. 

Sh’ot Left, a week-long sales event to promote domestic affordable travel, ended on 8 September, while SA National Parks Week ends on Friday, with an extension on 14-15 September at selected parks, where most of the 21 parks managed by SANParks will offer free day entry to the public (excluding Boulders Beach and Table Mountain Aerial Cableway). CapeNature has its 10th annual Access Week from 21 to 27 September. This offers free access to 24 nature reserves across the Western Cape. 

South Africa’s floral exhibit, which won three of the top awards at the Chelsea Flower Show, is being brought to Stanford by Grootbos Private Nature Reserve from 21 September to 6 October.

Cape Town goes big

The City of Cape Town has launched the Choose Cape Town branding campaign at Cape Town International Airport, encouraging travellers to explore Cape Town’s diverse attractions, from ocean adventures to investment opportunities. 

In 2022, they reached 25,4 million people across European cities. Last year, its campaigns reached 8,2 million people in US cities like New York, Miami, Washington, and Atlanta; and 3,3 million in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

Most of the action seems to be taking place in the Western Cape, but in reality, tourism is booming in many parts of South Africa (even if we don’t hear much about it), with inbound travel up strongly.

Euromonitor’s latest travel industry report notes that South Africa has made significant progress in reclaiming ground lost during Covid. 

Last year saw a significant surge in tourism arrivals, with trips increasing by over 40% to exceed eight million.

Inbound trips are projected to surpass 10 million in 2024: five years ago, before the pandemic, we had 10,228,593 tourists. With cheaper flights about to commence with Norse Atlantic, my money’s on a bumper summer.

R100bn for the coffers

Euromonitor reports that South Africa generated over R100-billion in revenue from inbound tourism in 2023, with promising growth prospects for 2024. The country’s tourism sector has consistently demonstrated strong growth, averaging 14% year-on-year increases in trips between 2014 and 2024.

That’s thanks to significant numbers of regional travellers from within Africa, especially Ghana, and the resurgence of traditional markets like Europe and the United States, as well as the emergence of new markets such as China and India. 

In May, the Tourism Department announced that Asian markets have demonstrated substantial growth, with a total of 49,741 arrivals from the region, representing a remarkable 25.4% increase compared to the same period in 2023.

China on the upswing

China experienced a significant surge, with South Africa welcoming 11,017 visitors, which is a massive 82% increase in the first three months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, although India contributed just 16,209 tourists, which is slightly lower by 0.9% compared to 2023.

Christy Tawii, research manager at Euromonitor, observes that South Africa goes beyond the typical safari experiences often associated with other African destinations. Our strong infrastructure and diverse tourism offerings, such as rich cultural heritage, historical landmarks, adventure activities, and eco-tourism, attract a wide range of international travellers.

“In addition to these established offers, South Africa continues to diversify its tourism portfolio by tapping into unexplored areas such as star bathing, agritourism, culinary tourism, luxury experiences and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) tourism.”

But for all the chasing after dollars, pounds and euros, our ronds and cents make a lot of sense: domestic tourism is sustainable, and it’s the lifeblood of the industry, accounting for over 45% of total value sales, Euromonitor said.

Good investing! 

Georgina. DM