The Summer Campaign is the department’s way of paying more attention to domestic travel, as most of the focus has been on international tourists.
South Africa’s Tourism sector’s performance has been hamstrung by various macroeconomics since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2023, South Africans’ wallets were under pressure due to a higher interest rate, inflation, and petrol prices. These factors led some people to have to choose between surviving the December holidays at home, or forgetting the budget and choosing their emotions by travelling.
For 2024, these macroeconomics have slightly improved, with the Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee cutting the repo rate by 25 basis for the first time in 16 months.
Inflation rate dipped below 5%, the first time in three years.
Motorists have experienced relief as petrol prices constantly dropped.
These factors might have helped South Africans to save their holiday pockets.
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Travel in 2023
Minister of Tourism, Patricia De Lille said tourism in 2023 was able to recover its contribution to the GDP in 2023, after it dipped during the pandemic.
This can be attributed to the 38 million trips that South Africans took within the country.
Domestic travel is the bedrock of the country’s tourism sector. When the trips that were taken are put in monetary terms, they contributed R121 billion.
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Revenge travel
The pandemic’s lockdown led to more South Africans exploring the country, which resulted in domestic travel being higher than international arrivals in 2023.
The increase in domestic travel can also be attributed to revenge travel.
Revenge travel is a trend whereby people started travelling abroad after the Covid-19 travelling restrictions were lifted.
De Lille noted there has been an improvement in the sector’s performance when looking at the 2023 results, but she is of the view more can be done.
ALSO READ: Domestic travel on the rise thanks to lockdown
More being done in 2024
The Department of Tourism launched its Summer Campaign on 29 October, as part of their drive to increase domestic travel, while contributing positively to the economy of the country.
Through this campaign, the department will work with the private sector to ensure their offerings are made accessible to South Africans for the holiday season, which is considered the busiest period for the sector.
The Summer Campaign is the department’s way of paying more attention to domestic travel, as most of the focus has been on international tourists.
It has been estimated that the sector’s jobs will grow to 1,7 million by the end of 2024, from 1.46 jobs in 2023.
This projection suggests the department and its stakeholders have seen demand in domestic travel and more people will be travelling this year compared to last.
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