The recently reappointed South African minister of tourism, Patricia de Lille has pledged to continue growing tourism arrival numbers by effectively marketing the country as a prime travel destination.
She said that Pretoria will collaborate and work in partnership with the private sector to achieve this objective.
A R1.2 billion ($66.3 million) Tourism Equity Fund and the Tourism Transformation Fund was put in place to ensure the growth of tourism businesses in South Africa.
“I want to thank the entire tourism sector for all their hard work and achievements in growing our tourism performance and I want to thank them in advance for the work we will continue doing as partners,” she said.
“Our focus must be on delivery and taking our work to the next level.”
South Africa received 8.4 million international arrivals in 2023, of which 6.5 million were from the African continent.
Statistics from StatsSA show that the country also received 3.8 million tourists between January and May 2024, up by 9.7% compared to the same period in 2023.
Of the nearly 3.8 million arrivals in the first five months of the year, more than 2.8 million were from the African continent.
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