Tourism industry players’ noses were out of joint after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s two-hour 2024 State of the Nation Address (Sona) this week failed to mention the sector.
Rosemary Anderson, Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa’s (Fedhasa) national chairperson, said the association for the hospitality industry was deeply disappointed that tourism was not mentioned once during the Sona.
“This oversight of tourism's immense potential for job creation and economic growth is baffling.
“The President spoke fervently about business needing to create more jobs. Yet his administration continues implementing obstacles that actively hinder the tourism and hospitality industry's ability to meet this goal,” she said.
The solution remained simple: the tourism industry was the fastest route to tackling unemployment and creating jobs, equipping the very individuals noted in the Sona address with skills and livelihoods, she said.
Anderson said, “The President's speech was a missed opportunity to recognise tourism's immense capacity for job creation and economic growth. With the right policies, tourism can play a leading role in growing employment and prosperity for all South Africans.”
This is as Statistic South Africa released data last month that showed that tourist arrivals in South Africa demonstrated a positive trend, with improvements in the numbers recorded from month to month during the period spanning 2021 to 2023.
In December 2023, 3.5 million travellers were recorded at South African ports of entry/exit, surpassing the figures for both November 2023, which stood at 2.6 million, and December 2022, which stood at 2.9 million.
And according to Statista, travel and tourism added nearly $13,2 billion (R248bn) to the gross domestic product of South Africa in 2021. It also noted that in 2021, there were close to 1.08 million jobs in the travel and tourism sector in South Africa.
Meanwhile, David Frost, the CEO of Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (Satsa), said with thousands of businesses and millions of livelihoods dependent on tourism, Satsa expected attention to this vital sector.
But instead, the speech overlooked opportunities to turbo-charge South Africa's recovery with savvy tourism policies, he said.
Frost said, “The word ‘tourism’ was not mentioned once, despite being the second largest economic sector. A glaring oversight of tourism’s potential amid an underwhelming speech.
“South Africa cannot afford to squander the low-hanging fruit of tourism-led growth. With a few common-sense reforms, like ensuring our visa system and processes are working effectively, we could welcome millions more high-value international tourists. This influx would translate into hundreds of thousands of new local jobs,” he added.
Satsa said it continued to stand ready to work with the administration to maximise tourism's benefits for all South Africans.
Frost further said, “But we need action, not just rhetoric, to tap into the unmatched potential of tourism to drive employment and prosperity across the nation. The time is now to prioritise forward-looking tourism policies that secure South Africa's future, rather than stifling it.”
The President touched on stabilising energy supply, improved infrastructure, tackling unemployment and improved road conditions, without providing meaningful details or concrete timelines, he said.
“These critical factors all play a vital role in the tourism industry, yet once again the speech showed how the private sector steps up to make tourism work for our country despite being hamstrung by external factors beyond their control,” Frost said.
BUSINESS REPORT