South Africa’s Travel & Tourism Industry in 2025: Trends, Growth, and Challenges

The status of travel and tourism in South Africa

The drastic COVID-19 lockdown measures were devastating for tourism industries all over the world, as illustrated in the graph below on South African tourist accommodation revenue, sourced from Who Owns Whom’s report on Travel and Tourism Trends in South Africa. 

It is devastating that four years on, South Africa has not really caught up with pre-pandemic tourism levels in terms of numbers of tourists and revenue. Statistics do not always convey the magnitude of the loss for a country, particularly for small tourism operators, employment, foreign exchange inflows and even fiscal revenues. In 2020 alone, more than R20bn evaporated.

South Africa’s tourism industry challenges

External events over which the country has little, or no control can create havoc. Natural causes like volcanic eruptions in Iceland have the potential to direct tourism to far flung destinations like South Africa, while others like the pandemic can have devastating effects. Draconian visa regulations on international travel can seriously damage tourism. For example, the recent US-Canada tariff war is resulting in a significant drop in Canadian tourists crossing into the US. According to the Caribbean News Digital website, An Ipsos poll found that 65% of Canadians plan to avoid travelling to the United States. This shift can result in several billions of dollars loss in revenue for the US hospitality sector. 

Geopolitical tensions or power struggles between countries or regions that affect international relations, economic stability and global security can lead to a drop in tourism.

The impact of regulation on the travel and tourism industry

Regulations can be burdensome, and compliance requires time, funds, and resources that can sometimes constitute an insurmountable barrier for small startups to get off the ground.

According to a Stanlib article on business regulation scores, South Africa was ranked last with the highest number of regulations for doing business. Looking at the impact of tourism illustrated below, the need for less regulation is clear. 

Examples of cumbersome regulations include training requirements for the tourism industry which state that a tour guide must be registered with provincial tourism authorities and must complete a training course through a training provider accredited by the Culture, Arts, Tourism, Hospitality, and Sport Sector Education and Training Authority (CATHSSETA). 

It is questionable whether this profession needs to be overregulated. In a freer business environment, competent competition would wipe out a bad tour guide, as demand is driven by discerning tourists and intermediaries like travel agents. There is no need to force a training course on a tour guide. 

Opportunities and future growth

Despite the country’s economic and recent geopolitical hiccups, South Africa’s tourism industry has great potential for growth. The country is endowed with excellent climatic conditions and tourist attractions such as game reserves and national parks, nature reserves, botanical gardens, wildlife sanctuaries, cultural and natural heritage sites, wine farms, craft breweries and distilleries, museums, historical landmarks, art galleries, beaches and aquariums. 

Rethinking the approach to increasing regulation is becoming urgent in a country with sky-high unemployment. A freer operational environment in the tourism industry help to attract potential tourists locally and internationally.

As tourism is one of the most labour-intensive industries globally, more support and less regulation can unlock this powerful driver of employment. Its ability to generate various opportunities in numerous industries such as transport, entertainment, retail and wine tourism demonstrates the importance of this industry.

Now that Spain and other popular destinations are protesting against the influx of tourists, perhaps South Africa can use this as leverage and show that it welcomes tourists any time.