By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille has launched the Summer Campaign aimed at encouraging South Africans and tourists to visit all the provinces.
The launch of the Summer Campaign is in line with the Department of Tourism’s mission to promote hidden gems and tourist attractions in lesser visited provinces to ensure that the benefits of tourism are realised in all nine provinces.
The summer season is one of the key travel periods in our calendar, making it essential to capitalise on the tradition of individuals traveling throughout the country,” De Lille said at the launch of the campaign in the Free State on Tuesday.
The Minister said South Africa is a well-known travel destination, although tourists mostly only visit some provinces. The key mission now is to ensure that tourists are made aware of all the tourism offerings and variety in all the nine provinces.
De Lille said, domestic tourists contributed R121 billion to the economy last year, compared to just R95 billion from foreign visitors.
Furthermore, De Lille, said both the department and SA Tourism were committed to ensuring that the benefits of tourism were felt in all nine provinces.
“At its core, our Summer Campaign focuses on promoting affordable, memorable travel experiences in South Africa.
“We invite both local and international tourists to explore our country and discover the many experiences including our natural wonders, cultural experiences as well both well-known and lesser-visited places and attractions.”
“Provinces have started finalising their summer campaigns and to support them in their summer campaign efforts, we will promote cross provincial travel.South African Tourism will support and collaborate with the provinces to ensure consistent messaging from the tourism sector throughout the summer season.
“Our primary goal for the next five years is to achieve 15 million tourism arrivals to our country by 2030, as per the National Development Plan, “De Lille said.
De Lille said the Summer Season for 2023 saw over 10 million domestic trips, with a spend of over R38 billion for these trips.
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), tourism’s direct and indirect contribution to South Africa’s GDP was 8.2% in 2023.
It is estimated to rise to 8.8% by the end of 2024 and reach 10.4% of GDP by 2030. Already in the first quarter of 2024, tourism’s direct and indirect contribution to South Africa’s GDP was 8.8%.