Despite borders being closed for over six months, South Africa as a travel destination was still talked about and consumers were still having online conversations about the destination. South African Tourism’s Strategy Insights & Analytics team provide feedback on its Tourism Sentiment Index – a live tool to listen for global online conversations.

Here are the key findings:

Easing of lockdown regulations

The easing of lockdown regulations and travel restrictions in September saw an increase in conversations about South Africa and the positive sentiment around the country as a travel destination.

The sentiment increased from 20 (in April) to 28 (in September), which is in the upper range of competitor destination scores, with the country tapped as the top destination for the month of September.

In September, the positive conversations about South Africa centred on topics such as outdoor activities, strongly driven by wildlife viewing. This accounted for 39% of the conversations when compared with April, during the lockdown period, where wildlife viewing only accounted for 28% of the conversations, indicating an increased desire for these experiences.

The latest data further shows that South Africa is not in a unique position compared with our competitors in terms of negative sentiments, as these were predominantly driven by COVID-19 and restricted air travel.

Scenery, culture and safari dominate

The volume of positive conversation was about outdoor activities (26%), food and culinary experiences (19%), access and transportation (15%) as well as destination services (10%). These conversations indicate that although consumers were unable to travel to South Africa, they were still thinking about the country, experiences and talking about travel.

In addition, the Brand Tracker Survey, which has been developed by South African Tourism and measures the health of South Africa’s tourism brand for international travellers, indicates that the top three reasons for travellers wanting to visit South Africa are beautiful scenery, to experience different cultures and to go on safari.

Affordability the biggest barrier

According to the survey, affordability has been identified as a key barrier for South African Tourism. Awareness and stature of the tourism brand have also been identified as the key levers that need to be pulled in order to increase international arrivals.

Furthermore, communication about COVID-19 protocols is a key imperative.

These findings provide the sector with preliminary insights into the online thoughts and conversations of travellers. The onus is then on us to take them and use them to customise our offerings. This also presents the tourism industry with an opportunity, as a sector to continue collaborating to ensure affordability of products, packages, accommodation and experiences to position the country as a value-for-money long-haul destination.

This is even more crucial in the COVID-19 environment, where consumers have lower disposable income. The recalibration of the industry presents the sector with many opportunities, as a destination. As the world slowly opens up for travel, we must be obsessed with offering experiences that are consumer-centric and reflect what the new world traveller is looking for in the COVID-19 travel environment

Background and methodology

On October 1, South Africa opened its borders, after closing for international travel on March 15. The opening of international borders signalled a significant milestone in the recovery of the country’s tourism sector.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the sector to press the restart button and recalibrate. Part of this recalibration is ensuring that as an industry, we are consistently listening and attuned to the ever-changing needs of the traveller.

For this purpose, South African Tourism uses the Tourism Sentiment Index (TSI) as a live tool to listen for global online conversations. These conversations are tracked on a daily basis. The TSI provides a comprehensive look at how destinations are driving positive perceptions about their tourism offerings. The index includes domestic and international conversations and measures overall perceptions of the destination’s tourism offerings.