DESPITE the negativity that has plagued South Africa, there’s always something good as you flip the coin.
Talk of flippin’ the coin- I had a pleasure to meet a manager of one international airline company. Yes, he did acknowledge that my ‘country has so much potential hence the continued investments’, but we South African’s tend to ‘overlook’ that.
This reminded me another good news by The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) that revealed positive signs of recovery for the South African Travel & Tourism sector with travellers heading back to ‘our’ major cities.
Its no-brainer the two major cities mentioned were Cape Town and Johannesburg, respectively.
Despite the pandemic and less traveling, the WTTC Cities Economic Impact Report shows that in 2019, the Travel & Tourism sector contributed over $2.5BN to Cape Town’s economy and more than $2.1BN to Johannesburg’s.
However, the pandemic devastated the country’s economy. In 2020, both cities Travel & Tourism’s GDP contribution dropped by more than half, falling to $1BN.
The results show travellers are returning to cities such as Cape Town and Johannesburg with all indicators bouncing back to pre-pandemic levels, and job opportunities in 2021, grew by 8% to 127,000 jobs and is expected to have grown at a two and a half times that rate in 2022, to reach more than 152,000 job opportunities.
“South Africa has long been a world-favourite destination and after more than two years of disruption, it’s great to see tourists heading back. Tourism provides a massive boost to both the economy and job creation.
“It is crucial that the national and local governments continue to recognise the importance of Travel & Tourism for the local and national economies, jobs, and businesses,” says Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO.
In 2019 there were more than 170,000 people employed by the Travel & Tourism sector in Cape Town. In 2020 this figure dropped to just over 117,000 (-32%).
But in 2021, employment grew by 8% to 127,000 jobs and is expected to have grown at a two and a half times that rate in 2022, to reach more than 152,000 jobs.
In Johannesburg, it’s a similar picture.
Before the pandemic, there were over 138,000 Travel & Tourism jobs, but this number fell by 28,000 to just over 110,000 in 2020. A 10% rise in 2021 saw the number increase to more than 120,000.
WTTC is forecasting jobs to grow three times as fast in 2022 to reach more than 156,000 jobs – 11.5% more jobs than pre-pandemic levels.
The report also shows that the sector’s contribution to both cities will increase by more than $2.25BN over the next decade.
According to the global tourism body’s forecast, Cape Town’s Travel & Tourism sector is expected to contribute over $3.3BN, while Johannesburg’s will provide a boost of almost $800MN by 2032 to reach just under $3BN annually.
The report, researched in partnership with Oxford Economics, analysed key indicators such as Travel & Tourism’s direct contribution to GDP, employment and traveller spend.
This shows the South African Tourism agency- that markets the country both locally and internationally- is doing a sterling job.
As the manager and his executive team walked me out of his posh office in Sandton, he whispered in my ear “tell South Africans to own up and be proud of what they’ve achieved in the past, and defend the gains of this astounding country of theirs”.
Image (Welcome. A gargantuan Elephant seen ‘welcoming’ tourists in one of SA’s signature attraction Kruger National Park ).
