As 2020 begins there is a definite need for the entire industry to be proactive in re-energising the brand.

TBCSA’s Tshifhiwa Tshivengwa says: “This year we would like to see the brand re-energised. We are competing with many destinations around the world and it is critical that we re-energise our brand to compete in our critical markets. Effective marketing will be critical and we need work together between the private and public sectors to ensure that we are aligned.”

Drip-feed or torrent?

Director of Big Ambitions and travel industry expert, Natalia Rosa says the one way to tackle the problems facing the industry is to collaborate.

 “At a time when the world is fighting for its share of the tourism pie, I have no doubt that the time is now for us to park our egos back in 2019 and start building Team South Africa for our mutual benefit,” she says. “We see the power of working together in other tourism destinations – private and public sector, private sector competitors all working together to position the destination first, then product second.”

She says it’s time to think about the big picture.

“The collective budget of tourism companies in South Africa is massive and the potential to amplify our message tremendous if we can align our efforts into collective destination promotion instead of our current siloed approach.

We can choose… drip, drip, drip, or torrent. The time to flood South Africa and the world with good tourism messages from South Africa is now,” says Rosa.

The Golden Opportunity for 2020

Rosa feels it is essential to encourage all South Africans to play a role in growing their country as a tourism destination.

“On the note of controlling what we can control, it is the job of every South African to ensure that travellers feel safe and welcome when they visit, so they return home telling our good story. If you visited their country, you would want the same for yourself and you would tell others how great the destination is. This is something practical that every South African can do to improve tourism and the economy. We all do tourism in our own way.

“Get South Africans behind tourism – that’s the golden opportunity for 2020!”