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President Cyril Ramaphosa says tourism can become one of the most powerful tools to help African countries grow their economies and reduce pressure on major cities by bringing development to rural areas.
Ramaphosa was addressing delegates at the Africa Travel Indaba at the Durban ICC on Tuesday.
He said the sector should no longer be viewed as just a leisure industry but as a developmental instrument that could transform communities across the continent.
“Tourism has the unique ability to bring economic activity into rural areas and undeveloped areas. This can reduce pressure on the major cities and bring about rural enterprise. Local entrepreneurs can also be developed, like we are seeing in Soweto,” he said.
Ramaphosa pointed to Vilakazi Street in Soweto — famous for being where former president Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu once lived — as an example of how previously neglected townships are being transformed into tourism attractions.
He added that tourism could help correct apartheid spatial planning by drawing visitors into areas that were previously excluded from economic opportunities.
“For instance, Johannesburg and Soweto were designed in a way where black people were simply dumped there to provide labour to the city,” he said.
“But now Soweto is developing into a tourism attraction. People travel there to experience its history and heritage.”
Ramaphosa also highlighted that tourism creates jobs across many sectors, including hotels, restaurants, transport, tour guiding and small businesses.
“When tourists travel, they do not travel empty-handed and they do not travel with empty stomachs. They buy goods, they stay in hotels, they support businesses and they create jobs.”
This was further echoed by tourism minister Patricia De Lille who urged delegates to sign the Africa Travel Indaba pledge.
“We pledge to grow Africa’s tourism economy, to tell our stories and to give the world a better Africa and a better world,” she said.
“Tourism policy is economic policy. Tourism is an economic catalyst and it impacts and changes many, many lives,” De Lille said.
She said recent figures show strong recovery and growth in the sector.
“In 2024, tourism created 954,000 direct jobs and contributed 4.9% to GDP. With a record 10.5-million visitors in 2025, we are no longer speaking about recovery. We are speaking about growth.”
De Lille said this growth is being driven by co-operation between government, the private sector and communities, as well as new investment in tourism infrastructure.
“We are seeing investment in tourism products already. We’ve seen investment at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, the Cape Winelands Airport, and nearly R2.5bn here in KwaZulu-Natal with the Club Med Beach and Safari Resort.”
She added that South Africa is increasingly becoming a global destination for major events and conferences, pointing out that the country had submitted 100 bids to host international events last year and successfully secured 52.
“This shows the growth of the tourism sector and the confidence the world has in South Africa,” she said.
Both Ramaphosa and De Lille said tourism must be used to grow rural economies, create jobs for young people and help position Africa as a single, competitive global destination.
They also stressed that stronger co-operation between government, business and communities will be key to unlocking the tourism sector’s true potential.
TimesLIVE
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