A recovery plan for the tourism sector presented to the National Assembly outlined how South Africa will attempt to jump start both domestic and international tourism once the COVID-19 crisis has calmed.
Minister of Tourism Mmamokolo Kubayi-Ngubane said that the department is in the final stages of consultation with stakeholders regarding the plan and it will be submitted to Cabinet for approval in August.
Hosting international events will be a welcome boost for South Africa’s tourism industry.
‘So far, the indications are that Tourism recovery will experience a number of phases, from hyper-local community attractions, through to broader domestic tourism, regional land and air markets, and resumption of world-wide international travel,’ she said in the virtual mini-plenary, according to BusinessTech.
In addition to managing the re-opening of the sector and beginning to scale up domestically, Kubayi-Ngubane said that they plan to boost international tourism by bidding for international events.
‘We will aggressively bid to host large international events in anticipation of the opening of the borders so that upon opening, we can immediately drive up demand for our supply market and also build confidence that South Africa is safe and open for business,’ she said.
To aid with effective international interventions she explained that they will make sure key systems such as the e-visa system, effective tourism license issuing and marketing campaigns are working and ready.
‘We have also been engaging with global bodies so that we coordinate with our partners around the world, especially our source markets, in preparation for the sector recovery,’ she added.
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