Tourism emerges as major investment and job creation opportunity

Tourism is increasingly being recognised as a key economic sector that can attract investment and create jobs at scale, says Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille.

Speaking at the South African Tourism Investment Summit 2026 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on Thursday, De Lille said both global and domestic trends point to the growing economic importance of tourism.

“At Beyond Tourism Day, the World Bank’s work identified tourism among the five sectors with significant potential to generate jobs at scale,” De Lille said.

According to Statistics South Africa, tourism directly employed 953 981 people in 2024, accounting for 5.7% of total employment, while its direct contribution to the economy reached 4.9% of GDP.

“This is important because global travel and tourism support over 366 million jobs and accounts for 10% of global GDP,” the Minister said.

De Lille said South Africa had also demonstrated strong growth in tourism demand.

“In 2025, domestic overnight trips reached 44.7 million, with expenditure at R111.6 billion, while South Africa welcomed a record high of 10.5 million international arrivals, with expenditure at R102.2 billion,” she said.

The Minister said South Africa is among the top 20 countries globally in terms of international arrivals, adding that the growth was supported by the Tourism Growth Partnership Plan agreed to by government and the private sector.

“This growth is not by accident; it is by design through the Tourism Growth Partnership Plan, which government and the private sector have agreed to, with five priorities,” De Lille said.

Against this backdrop, she said tourism infrastructure investment was critical to ensuring that the sector could respond to growing demand.

The Department of Tourism has established a Tourism Infrastructure Facilitation Unit to help remove barriers faced by investors and assist priority projects towards implementation.

“We have now strengthened that capacity further through a three-year Memorandum of Agreement with Infrastructure South Africa and strengthened access to finance through institutions such as the Industrial Development Corporation,” De Lille said.

She said recent investments demonstrated growing confidence in South Africa’s tourism potential.

“The recently opened Club Med Beach & Safari Resort in KwaZulu-Natal represents an investment of more than R2 billion, adding significant tourism capacity while demonstrating confidence in the long-term prospects of the South African visitor economy,” De Lille said.

The Minister also highlighted the Cabinet-approved Tourism Route Development Marketing Plan, which seeks to move the country away from fragmented route development towards greater coordination between national government, provinces and the private sector.

“We are already seeing airlines demonstrate confidence in the South African market through the increased additional capacity,” she said.

The 2026 summit builds on the inaugural 2025 gathering, where eight bankable projects unlocked nearly R1 billion in potential investment.

The summit brings together investors, tourism industry stakeholders and policymakers to stimulate investment, strengthen the tourism project pipeline and further position South Africa as a leading destination for tourism infrastructure investment. – SAnews.gov.za