The South African tourism industry has grown considerably since the country's first democratic elections in 1994. The number of foreign arrivals increased from just more than 3 million in 1993 to more than 9,5 million in 2008. Of the 9,5 million, 7,4 million are from Africa and more recent data indicates that some 1,7 million are same-day visitors.

Research indicates that about 14 million South Africans travelled domestically in 2008, taking an estimated 33 million trips in total.

The tourism sector is a multi-faceted industry that contributes to a variety of economic sectors, while also being a labour-intensive industry with the capacity to create jobs. The 2005 Tourism Satellite Account[1] indicates that tourism directly contributed about R45,7 billion or 3% to the gross domestic product ("GDP") of South Africa. About 528 000 people were directly employed in the tourism industry (or approximately 4,3% of total employment).

Tourism is a priority economic sector in the African National Congress ("ANC") 2009 election manifesto, which identifies the following overall priorities:

1)    creating decent work and sustainable livelihoods;
2)    education;
3)    health;
4)    rural development, food security and land reform;
5)    the fight against crime and corruption; and
6)    building cohesive and sustainable communities.

The above priorities are expected to "specifically target the needs of the youth, women, workers, the rural poor, the elderly, and people with disabilities".

Government's Medium-Term Strategic Framework which was developed taking the above into account, identifies the following strategic priorities:

1)    Speeding up growth and transforming the economy to create decent work and sustainable livelihoods
2)    A massive programme to build economic and social infrastructure
3)    A comprehensive rural development strategy linked to land and agrarian reform and food security (with specific mention of tourism as an economic activity in rural areas)

1)    Strengthening the skills and human resource base
2)    Improving the health profile of all South Africans
3)    Intensifying the fight against crime and corruption
4)    Building cohesive, caring and sustainable communities (with specific mention of tourism in relation to building national pride)
5)    Pursuing African advancement and enhanced international cooperation
6)    Sustainable Resource Management and use
7)    Building a developmental state including improvement of public services and strengthening democratic institutions

The hosting of the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup is expected to boost the South African tourism industry through the expansion of tourism and other infrastructure and the huge opportunity it presents to showcase South Africa as a tourist destination to the world.

However, research indicates that there are still numerous opportunities for tourism growth which are not being exploited to their full potential. South African Tourism's ("SAT") global competitiveness project research in 2003 indicated that the potential number of visitors that could be attracted from certain core arkets[2] over time was about 24 million people, based on a market penetration of less than 10%.

A variety of other challenges constrain the tourism industry in South Africa from growing to its full potential. These are detailed in the SWOT analysis developed for the strategy (see Section B).

Against this background, the new Department of Tourism, under the direction of the Minister of Tourism, has initiated and managed an inclusive process to draft a National Tourism Strategy to inspire and accelerate the responsible growth of the tourism industry from 2010 to 2015. It is essential that South Africa action this strategy if it is to realise its inherent tourism potential, and ensure that the investment made by the country into the 2010 Football World Cup is fully leveraged to deliver the possible ongoing tourism benefits.

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