Published on : Wednesday, July 11, 2018
As per the recent Stats SA’s annual Tourism Satellite Account for South Africa report, tourism sector directly contributed almost 2.9% to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country in 2016. The sector has 686 596 employees and of the 15.8 million workers that are officially and casually employed in South Africa, 4.4% or 1 in every 23 were employed directly within the tourism sector.
In his State of the Nation (SONA) address, president Cyril Ramaphosa explained that there is no reason why tourism can’t double in size. He mentioned South Africa as the most gorgeous country in the world with the most hospitable locals and called on all South Africans to open their homes and their hearts to the world. Also, the Government is enhancing support in terms of destination marketing in all the main tourism markets and is taking additional measures to decrease regulatory barriers and develop emerging tourism businesses.
As per Travelport’s The South African Digital Traveller Research report, almost 86% of South African travelers utilize travel booking websites as 82% consult review sites to get ideas on which destinations to visit next. Also, the report shows that mobile is an emerging and important aspect in terms of booking experience with 35% of respondents utilizing a smartphone and 38% a tablet to do their bookings.
At their fingertips, now customers have a wealth of information, and expect to organize their whole trip and make decisions in spite of where they are. Mobile integration is anticipated rather than desired – not just in the booking process but also during the trip.