‘A lot more work needs to be done’ to lift tourism numbers

As Statistics South Africa noted a decline in the arrivals of 2% in “foreign travellers”, the Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (Satsa) said apart from the unabridged birth certificate requirement for foreign minors and improved visa regime “quite a lot more work needs to be done”.

This comes after the national statistical service released its monthly Tourism and Migration Report for October.

The report revealed that in October this year, 3 435 653 travellers, including South African citizens and foreign travellers, had passed through the country’s ports of entry/exit and 2 507 702 were foreign travellers.

In its monthly analysis for September and October this year, it notes that “the volume of arrivals and departures decreased for South African citizens but increased for foreigners”.

It revealed that “for foreign travellers, arrivals increased by 6.4% (from 1 219 616 in September to 1 297 483 in October), departures increased by 5.4% (from 1 080 483 in September to 1 139 310 in October), and transits decreased by 9.4% (from 78 224 in September to 70 909 in October).”

However, a yearly analysis saw the volume of travellers, including foreign tourists decrease between October 2018 and October this year.

The report said: “For foreign travellers, arrivals decreased by 2.0% (from 1 323 652 in October 2018 to 1 297 483 in October this year), departures decreased by 2.3% (from 1 166 107 in October 2018 to 1 139 310 in October this year), and transits increased by 6.5% (from 66 573 in October 2018 to 70 909 in October this year).”

Satsa spokesperson Natalia Rosa said: “It is important to view tourist arrival statistics over a period of time, not only on month-to-month and in terms of past performance, but also looking at future bookings, so that one gets a full and accurate picture of the situation.

“That bigger picture shows that several of South Africa’s top international source markets are down year-to-date, but we do see some markets showing growth, albeit small, like the UK, India and Italy.”

She added that “tourism’s potential to contribute to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s plan to grow the economy cannot be underestimated. This industry puts food on the table of one in seven South Africans and its potential to increase this is higher than many other industries. Any regulation that hamstrings the tourism industry’s growth, directly impacts South Africa’s ability to create jobs”.

She said it was too early to judge the impact of the removal of the unabridged birth certificate upon check-in and at immigration, but while its removal “and improved visa regime will go a long way to market South Africa as a preferred travel destination, quite a lot more work needs to be done”.

– jenniffero@citizen.co.za

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