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Welcome to the Tourism Knowledge Portal.


This portal for the South African Tourism Sector is a collaborative knowledge sharing initiative. Our world is constantly changing due to factors such as global economic upheaval and technological developments. This impacts on sustainability in the Tourism Sector and requires insights and knowledge in order to position ourselves to take advantage of opportunities and mitigate risks. The purpose of this Knowledge Portal is to enable those of us in the Tourism Sector to keep abreast of the latest tourism news and current perspectives gained from recently-conducted research and statistical analyses, to enable us to create and share innovative ideas and practices.​

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A total of 1 040 534 tourist arrivals were recorded for January 2017, which is an increase of 2.8% (27 893 tourists) compared to the same month of the previous year. ​​​​

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StatsDescription
GDP

​Source: TSA, Report No. 04-05-07 Published February 2016 STATSSA​

​​2012 (Final)​2013(Preliminary)​2014(Preliminary)
​Direct contribution of tourism to GDP​​93 750​101 730​111 560
​% contribution of tourism to GDP​​2.9 %​​2.9 %​2.9 %
Employment

Source: TSA, STATSSA​

​​2012 (Final)​2013 (Preliminary)​2014(Preliminary)
​Direct contribution to employment​
​646 390​655 587​680 817
​% contribution of tourism to employment​4.5 %​​4.4 %​​4.5 %​
Tourism sector vs traditional industries (Value Added) (%)

Source: TSA, STATSSA

​Industry​2011​2012​2013​2014
Electricity, gas and water3.23.6​​3.7​3.7
Agriculture, forestry and fishing2.5​2.4​2.3​2.5
Construction3.8​3.8​4.0​4.1
Tourism2.8​2.9​2.9​3.0
Mining and quarrying9.6​9.2​9.0​8.4
​Transport and communication​9.5​10.0​10.0​10.0
​Wholesale and retail trade14.9​​15.0​14.8​14.8
​Manufacturing​13.3​13.1​13.2​13.3
​Finance, real estate and business service​20.7​20.6​20.3​20.5
​Community and social services​16.5​16.4​16.8​22.7
Tourism sector vs traditional industries (Employment) (%)

​Source: TSA, STATSSA​​

​Industry​2011​2012​2013​2014
Electricity, gas and water0.6​0.7​0.9​0.8
​Mining and quarrying​2.4​2.6​2.8​2.8
Tourism4.4​4.5​4.4​4.5
Transport and communication5.8​6.0​6.1​6.2
Agriculture, forestry and fishing4.6​4.8​5.0​4.6
Construction7.9​7.6​7.7​8.2
​Private hh​8.7​8.68.3​
​Finance, real estate and business services​12.9​13.2​13.4​13.4
​Manufacturing​13.3​12.6​12.2​11.6
​Community and social services​21.5​22.2​22.5​23.1
​Wholesale and retail trade​22.421.8​​21.1​21.1
Domestics (2015)

*Source: Highlights of domestic tourism’s performance in 2014
*Source: 2015 Annual Report v8 0706201

​Indicator​2012​2013​20142015​
​Total domestic travellers​12.5 Million12.0 Million (-4% from 2012)​*12.0 Million​*12.4 Million
​Total number of domestic trips​25.4 Million25.2 Million​28.0 Million​25.4 Million
​Average domestic spend per domestic trip​R850​R980​R950​R960
​Average domestic spend per domestic Day​R180​R210​R230​R230
​Total Annual spend​R21.8 Billion​R24.3 Billion​R26.8 Billion​R23.6 Billion
​Average length of stay per trip​4.8 nights​4.4 nights​4.0 nights​4.2 nights

 

Tourist Arrivals (2015)

​Source: 2014 SAT Table B - December 2014
Source: 2015 SAT Table B - December 2015

​Indicator​2015​2014​Difference​%
Total Africa arrivals​6 746 114​7 279 814​-533 700​-7.3%
​Total overseas arrivals​2 144 9882 254 709​-109 721​-4.9%
​Grand Total​8 903 773​9 549 236​-645 463​-6.8%

 

Global Performance (2015)

​Source: World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) http://media.unwto.org/press-release/2016-01-18

Total global Tourist arrivals1.2 billion
​Total global Tourist percentage change %​4.4%
​Prediction for 20164%

 

Top Destinations

​Source: World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Tourism highlight 2015 edition

​World's Top Tourism Destinations​ ​Million​ ​Change
​Rank​2013​2014​13/12​14/13
1.  France83.683.7​​2.0​0.1
​2.  United States70.0​74.8​5.0​6.8
3.  Spain60.7​65.0​5.6​7.1
​4.  China​55.7​55.6​-3.5​-0.1
​5.  Italy​47.7​48.6​2.9​1.8
​6.  Turkey​37.8​39.8​5.9​5.3
​7.  Germany​31.5​33.0​3.7​4.6
​8.  United Kingdom​31.1​32.6​6.1​5.0
​9.  Russian Federation​28.4​29.8​10.2​5.3
​10.  Mexico​24.2​29.1​3.2​20.5

  • PDF IconFinal NTSS 2016-2026
    Published Date : 17 January 2018 - 1.37 MB
    The National Tourism Sector Strategy (NTSS) was compiled through a comprehensive consultative process, and is a blueprint of priorities for the Tourism Sector in terms of its growth and contribution in the South African economy.
    Download
  • PDF IconTourism Bulletin October
    Published Date : 27 October 2017 - 0.70 MB
    The tourism sector is multidisciplinary in nature and its growth and success is highly dependent on other sectors. This multi-sectoral nature of tourism subjects it to various policy and regulatory frameworks, some of which impacts negatively on the development and growth of tourism. This necessitates tracking of policy developments with a view to address potential challenges. The Tourism Policy Bulletin therefore provides an overview of recent policy developments globally, nationally across other sectors and locally with impact to tourism.
    Download
  • PDF IconState of Tourism Report 2015/16
    Published Date : 29 September 2017 - 5.60 MB
    The National Department of Tourism introduced an Annual State of Tourism Report, to function as a strategic tool to inform decision-makers and businesses on the sector’s performance and developmental aspects. A supply and demand analysis model, was applied to monitor the performance of the tourism sector during the 2015/16 period. The report was completed during March 2017 and updated between April and June 2017
    Download

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Compendium
The multi-sectoral nature of tourism subjects it to a variety of regulatory requirements, ranging from Acts of Parliament to local by-laws. At the time of writing there are no platforms that provide a collection of these regulatory requirements. This presents a major challenge for policy making, compliance, investment and decision making. 
 
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Policy Watch
The Department of Tourism functions within the National legislative environment. As such there are acts and policies which impact on the department and to which it must comply.
  
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