Film's Role In Future-proofing Sa's Tourism Sector

New pathways for film industry development could future-proof South Africa against potential overtourism while allowing the country to share its cultural heritage and natural assets on an unprecedented scale.

The country already ranks as a popular filming destination due to its variety of environmental backdrops, high level of technical skill within the creative industries and low production costs afforded by tax incentives and favourable foreign exchange rates. Researchers and tourism industry stakeholders also stress that the sector offers vast untapped potential.

Academics at the University of Pretoria UP point out that film tourism could diversify the South African product away from mass tourism at congested sites and safari destinations. Directing traffic to off-the-beaten-track locations may lighten the load on existing infrastructure and help popular destinations remain within their carrying capacity promoting more responsible forms of tourism.

The sector has additional value to add in countering the limited narratives of Africa as a place of violence, crime, racism and poverty and in providing funding for crucial cultural or natural heritage sites.

In South Africa, where heritage sites rarely receive the critical funding they need, filming and concomitant tourism can be a much-needed avenue to procure funding, says Dr Charlene Herselman , a lecturer at UPs Department of Historical and Heritage Studies.