The 2022/2023 summer season is set to be “the biggest and boldest summer period yet” following the two-year hiatus occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic’s lockdowns, restrictions and travel bans”, according to SA Minister of Tourism, Lindiwe Sisulu.

Speaking last night (Tuesday, December 6) at the launch of South African Tourism’s latest Sho’t Left campaign – ‘Gimme Summer That!’, which will run from December to March 2023 – she said the 2022 summer season was the first one without restrictions since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic.

“This is, therefore, the ideal time to get outside and explore our country again, to visit friends, family and relatives, be on holiday in the bush or get sand under our toes by the sea. We have massive tourism offerings to cater for all discerning travellers, local and international.”

She pointed out that South Africa was entering the peak summer season on a high note, as the tourism numbers continued to show unparalleled growth in both domestic numbers and international arrivals. “We are upbeat, as all indications are that our tourism sector is on a fast highway to recovery.” Sisulu emphasised travel and tourism’s contribution to the country’s overall success, reducing inequality and improving South Africa’s economic growth prospects.

Facts and figures

Currently, tourism contributes 3.7% to South Africa’s GDP. “This is more than agriculture, utilities and construction,” she noted.

Sisulu highlighted that the cumulative arrivals from January to October this year had amounted to 4.5 million. “This is 47% below 2019 levels but the 2022 levels have improved significantly since 2021,” she said. 

“In 2022, Africa land arrivals accounted for the most significant number of arrivals (3.2 million), followed by Europe (671 000) and the Americas (256 000).”

She added that the African air markets had seen a healthy increase of 132%. “The January to October 2022 numbers show the sector recovered at 43% of pre-pandemic 2019 levels. Arrivals from the African continent were 40% lower than in 2019.”

Domestic tourism has risen exponentially. According to Sisulu, domestic overnight trips from January to September reached 23.9 million trips – 138.6% growth over the same period in 2021.

Travel spend is also on the rise. “The total domestic expenditure was R65.9 billion (€3.8bn), a 150.7% increase over 2021. This was driven by holiday trips, which accounted for 43.3% of total expenditure,” the Minister said.

Domestic day trips recorded a 169.4% increase at R131 million (€7m).

Total foreign direct spend increased from January to September by 188.6%, reaching R37bn (€2.1bn) over the same period in 2021.

Sisulu highlighted that, overall, South Africa’s forward bookings for the next six months were expected to reach a staggering 208% increase in arrivals compared with the previous year.

“The source markets accounting for the majority of these forward bookings are Europe and the Americas. There is an 88% increase in bookings for the next six months (September to February 2023) from the US alone,” she noted.

Job creation

Acting CEO of SA Tourism, Themba Khumalo, noted that 100 youths had been employed in each of South Africa’s nine provinces to create awareness of the Gimme Summer That! campaign.

“The teams will seek out visitors and provide them with information on places to visit in the provinces as well as travel rewards,” he explained, noting that the campaign would provide 1 600 jobs for the youth in South Africa and empower over 600 tourism SMEs.