South Africa’s inbound tourism industry is looking at different ways to improve the country’s competitiveness and resilience to outside shocks such as COVID-19 or an economic crisis.
These include converting more short-stay regional visitors into leisure tourists, launching a long-stay visa for remote workers, or designing products for a more diverse audience.
Last week, Business Day and the International Labour Organization (ILO) hosted an online dialogue about how South Africa could realise its potential as a tourism destination. (See here: https://www.tourismupdate.co.za/article/business-resilience-programme-launched-smes).
The discussion also helped to identify how growing South Africa’s tourism pie would speed up transformation in the sector.
Participants touched on strategies to improve conversion rates from some of South Africa’s smaller source markets, while the ILO is launching a skills development programme to upskill SMEs and build their resilience.
The African diaspora and heritage tourism, golf tourism, regional tourism, the adventure market, LGBTQ+ and digital nomads were some of the opportunity market segments that the panel discussion identified.
Challenges and opportunities
David Frost, CEO of SATSA, said South Africa had unique selling points and had never been a mass-market destination. He also committed to using resources and funding to strengthen SA Tourism’s campaigns that promote South Africa abroad.
Mandisa Magwaxaza, SATSA Vice Chairperson, added that South Africa was still underplaying in terms of regional tourism. Africa is South Africa’s biggest producer of inbound traffic but, Magwaxaza warned: “We don’t have the market intelligence to understand what Africans are coming to do in South Africa. A lot are coming here to shop, but they could be converted into leisure tourists.”
She said it would take highly targeted marketing and advertising by SMEs to capture more of this type of cross-border business. “If we get it right, the size of South Africa’s tourism pie will grow organically, which would have an even more positive effect on transformation.
“We should really be catering more for that market and be getting to understand that market more and create a healthy product mix in tourism so we can cater for more travellers. That demand is there.”
Involve communities
Phakamile Hlazo, CEO of digital services provider, Zulu Nomad, and SATSA AID Committee Co-chair, encouraged the industry to reach out to the communities they work in to foster support for tourism and travel SMEs by making sure communities understand the value of each visitor.
“Transformation in the South African context needs to speak to how do we increase the tourism pie?” said Hlazo. “SATSA’s Access, Inclusivity and Diversity (AID) committee is working towards this. We are working to make sure as many South Africans as possible are able to have access to the tourism value chain, to information and opportunities, and to grow their business.”
Hlazo reiterated the need for digital skills development in small travel businesses across Africa. In places like Ethiopia, for example, she said SMEs had access to exceptional products but were still without e-mail access.
“Digital skilling is needed to innovate in tourism. How do we practically support and invest in online skills development? If you aren’t online, to young people you don’t exist.”
New product development
A more diverse target market and new product development will also grow South Africa’s tourism pie. Hlazo maintained: “[We need] not just transformation from a racial perspective but in terms of attracting more young people, old people, travellers from the LGBTQ+ community – every type of traveller.
“How do we create new tourism product that speaks to young people outside of South Africa’s traditional core source markets? How do we attract the Asian market? What kind of product is attractive to South American young people wanting to come and experience the country? That is how we are going to transform the tourism sector. That is how we are going to grow the tourism pie.”
