South Africas tourism industry is pinning its hopes on structural reforms embarked on by the Government of National Unity (GNU) to attract 15.6 million international arrivals by 2030.
Jerry Mabena, chairman of the Tourism Business Council of SA (TBCSA), yesterday said the appointment of the GNU had seen an improvement in business confidence, even stretching beyond South Africas borders.
South Africans were looking to the new government to solve critical issues such as unemployment, the cost-of-living crisis and slow economic growth.
We, on the other hand, need to demonstrate how our sector is positioning itself to address these very same challenges. Indeed, we say tourism matters for the economy; it matters to the many industries that benefit from a thriving tourism industry, Mabena said.
As we all know, we have a vision of growing our international arrivals to 15 million over the next couple of years. We are moving in the right direction toward achieving this goal. Data from Stats SA shows that last year, we welcomed over eight million international guests into our country.
