Public- and private-sector role players have banded together to improve the marketing of South Africa’s adventure offerings – an aspect identified as a significant obstacle to growth.

“We are lagging behind countries such as New Zealand from a marketing perspective. It is essential to have a concerted effort to position South Africa as a top tourism destination,” said SATSA COO, Hannelie du Toit. 

Du Toit said SATSA had entered into a structured engagement process with South African Tourism and the Tourism Business Council of South Africa to develop marketing strategies for the sector.

“The public and private sectors are working together to identify the best way to position adventure tourism in South Africa, however to do this we must have a database of credible products and suppliers,” said Du Toit, explaining that SATSA’s new self-regulation roadmap and Code of Good Practice would assist in building this credibility.

SATSA has also identified 101 different adventure activities available in Southern Africa.

“This positions us favourably against countries like New Zealand, currently known as the capital of adventure tourism. With our diverse and competitive offerings, we are essentially a ‘sleeping giant’, possessing vast growth potential,” said Du Toit.

Francois Nel, Co-Founder of the Adventure Institute, said marketing the country’s adventure offerings needed to extend beyond well-known activities such as safaris and shark-cage diving.

“The main barrier to increasing the number of foreign tourists booking multi-day trips is currently the lack of information accessible to them,” said Nel.