Tourism Minister, Patricia de Lille, highlighted impressive tourism sector growth during her department’s budget vote in Parliament this week.
However, with a smaller budget alongside tasks such as expanding air access, visa reform, transformation and SMME support on its to-do list, her department has its work cut out.
De Lille said South Africa’s tourism sector had shown remarkable growth in 2023, growing by 48,9% from 2022. Tourism figures for January to May 2024 put the number of international arrivals at 3,8 million – an increase of 9,7% compared with the same period in 2023. Total foreign direct spend grew by 27,5% year on year, reaching R95,1 billion in the 2023/4 financial year.
Tourism’s contribution to GDP had also increased by 8,8% and reached an estimated R458,9 billion in 2023, said De Lille.
Despite this growth, the Department of Tourism’s budget has been reduced by approximately 3% to R2,3 billion. The largest share of this (R1,2 billion) will be allocated to South African Tourism to market the country both locally and abroad.
Tourism challenges
De Lille also addressed two key areas that have bedevilled the tourism industry – visas and tourist transport operator licences.
She said South Africa had made significant progress on the visa waiver front, with residents from 132 countries now able to enter without a visa for periods of up to 90 days. Her department will work closely with the Department of Home Affairs and Operation Vulindlela to track visa progress, with a special focus on the key Chinese and Indian source markets. De Lille said she had set up a meeting with new Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber to discuss the issue.
NPTR
On the issue of tourist transport operating licences, De Lille said she noted the progress by the Department of Transport to clear application backlogs, and welcomed the signing of the National Land Transport Amendment Bill into law in June, which, she said would help enhance efficiency.
“From June 2023 to June 2024, the NPTR held 19 adjudication meetings and adjudicated a total of 952 applications for operating licences for tourist transport services. There is still a lot of work to be done on enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the system, and we look forward to working with the Minister of Transport on this key need.”
De Lille said air access was an important area of focus, as more international flights into the country were needed. She said a National Air Access strategy had been developed and would be presented to Cabinet in the next few months.
