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Travel and tourism 2025 will be challenging but positive

Travel and tourism 2025 will be challenging but positive

Having finally managed to wade through an extensive White Paper on Tourism published in the last quarter of 2024 and summarise it in order to give my readers a more complete picture of some of the issues that all the Travel and Tourism players believe we will face and need to deal with in 2025, I believe that it will be a challenging but positive year. As I mentioned in my last article, an immediate positive is the appointment of Tourism Minister Patricia De Lille as the Vice-Chair of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) Executive Council. This can only be good for SA Travel and Tourism and will give us a voice on the global stage which will resonate with some of the most important Travel and Tourism influencers.

Secondly, the issuing of the new White Paper was a positive in itself as the last (and only) White Paper on Tourism was published in 1996 and so this new one is long overdue. I must add that I am really pleased that our government has recognised that the issues highlighted in it are shared with those of the private sector too. Additionally, SA Travel and Tourism has grown considerably since then as is reflected by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) which estimates that through direct and indirect contributions, Tourism’s contribution to SA’s GDP was 8.2% in 2023 and we employed over R1.7million people even then!

It is with these impressive results in mind, as well as recognising the significance of industry’s contribution to the SA economy, as is included in the National Development Plan “NDP” (2023) and the National Treasury’s Economic Transformation, Inclusive Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, that the White Paper sets out some of the challenges we face as we go into 2025 and seeks to identify what interventions are necessary to enable tourism in SA to reach its full potential going forward.

What are the challenges we face?

A few of the key constraints listed, and the ones that resonate for me are as follows…

  • The perception that South Africa is an unsafe destination – not surprising, given the many reports of robbery and even occasional murder of foreign tourists;
  • Our inconsistent, and in some cases extremely poor, infrastructure doesn’t allow tourism to flourish equally in all parts of the country;
  • The many administrative barriers in place, as a result of conflicting regulatory needs;
  • A lack of transformation limiting the ability of participation of previously disadvantaged individuals;
  • The Travel and Tourism sector is susceptible to all types of disruptions which we face from multiple fronts. Health warning outbreaks, weather disruptions and civil unrest, whether local or abroad, impact us  – and we lack a comprehensive crisis management response.

I personally also believe that the industry must continue to make sustainable development goals a priority. The World Tourism and Travel and Tourism Council identified a few of these as promoting sustained, inclusive and suitable economic growth; full and productive employment and decent work for all; sustainable consumption and production patterns and the use of marine resources in a sustainable fashion. There is much more to this but Travel and Tourism needs to continue to align with their recommendations.

How the government and the industry deal with these issues going forward, will be interesting to see, so I will monitor all progress in this respect and report on positive change in future articles. Watch this space.

Our positives will overcome our challenges

A biblical belief is that one should fight evil with good, so why not fight our challenges with the many positives we have as a world-renowned tourist destination? Few countries have more to offer any tourist who seeks a complete experience. From our gorgeous beaches to wonderful road trips, exciting game drives and hiking through insanely beautiful mountain ranges, we have it all, so given this and the massive impact of travel and tourism on our economy, let’s stand together, as South Africans in every sector, to make Travel and Tourism SA 2025 our best year yet!

LIDIA FOLLI
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

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