South Africa continues to attract tourists

Tourists are continuing to be tempted by the attractions of South Africa, according to the country’s tourism minister.

Tourists are continuing to be tempted by the attractions of South Africa, according to the country’s tourism minister.

Marthinus van Schalkwyk, speaking at the opening of this year’s Meetings Africa event, explained that the country is aware of the economic value of encouraging both leisure and business travellers to take flights to South Africa.

“With 16 tourists creating one job, it is hard to take the focus away from tourism and the revenue strong business tourism,” he said.

According to Mr van Schalkwyk, tourism accounted for 7.7 per cent of South Africa’s gross domestic product in 2010 and that a focus on business tourism could boost this even higher in coming years.

He added that business tourists spend around R5,300 during their stay in 2009 and stayed an average of 4.8 nights.

According to the South Africa Tourist Board, the 2010 FIFA World Cup encourage over 300,000 tourists to visit the country to enjoy the major sporting event.

Written by Ruth Norris