Good afternoon. I want to thank all our loyal partners and supporters for your continued commitment over the years. We do not take your support for granted. The number of repeat visitors remains very important to us, and we appreciate your ongoing efforts to market South Africa as a destination of choice.
We face sharp global competition, which requires us to review our approach regularly. We must diversify our tourism offering and move beyond the perception that South Africa is only about safaris and Table Mountain. While these iconic attractions remain important, we need to illustrate a broader range of experiences through consistent, high-volume messaging to shift perceptions.
The world has changed, and so have traveller profiles. We must better understand the visitors who come to South Africa or who want to visit, particularly Gen Z and Millennials, while continuing to serve our loyal, long-standing markets. From 1 April we have asked our market teams to develop new strategies and plans tailored to each region. We can no longer apply the same business plan for decades and expect different results.
Tourism has been identified by government as one of the five key sectors for economic growth and job creation. We are now focused on return on investment that delivers more visitors, higher spend and more jobs. Our regional managers have greater leeway to adapt strategies to their markets, but we must improve coordination across regions.
We are shifting significantly towards digital marketing. We will require that 60 to 70pc of budgets be allocated to digital channels, with the remainder for traditional media buying. I have asked South African Tourism to present clear plans for digital activation across all markets before budgets are released. We need innovation and creativity to achieve more with less, especially given exchange rate pressures.
This is the final year that Africa’s Travel Indaba will be held in its current format. We have used the same model for nearly 30 years and it is time for a revamp. We invite all stakeholders to submit proposals on how we can improve the event. Please send ideas to proposals@southafrica.net. We have also issued a call for sponsorships and partnerships for 2027.
Early figures for 2026 show positive growth. In the first three months of the year South Africa welcomed 2.9 million international visitors. Notable increases were recorded from key markets including Germany, the United Kingdom and France. We recorded a record 10.5 million visitors in 2025, and we must now build on that momentum with clear targets and performance agreements linked to additional arrivals in 2026.
We have also introduced a new electronic travel authorisation system that allows applicants to apply from home with a turnaround time of less than 24 hours. This is a major improvement, particularly for growth markets such as India, China and Indonesia.
We remain committed to working closely with the private sector through the co-created Tourism Growth Partnership Plan. I welcome your feedback on what we can do better and how we can strengthen collaboration.
