South Africa’s Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille has welcomed the launch by President Cyril Ramaphosa of Phase Three of the Government-Business Partnership, which will expand its focus to tourism as one of the key sectors identified to drive inclusive economic growth, job creation and build confidence.
Phase Three has an immediate objective to lift economic growth above 3% marking a shift from stabilisation and reform towards accelerating growth, investment and employment. Tourism, agriculture and agro-processing and mining have been identified for their potential to attract investment, earn foreign revenue and create jobs at scale.
The President identified improving air access, modernising visa processing, strengthening destination marketing, enhancing tourist safety and expanding investment in tourism infrastructure as some of the key interventions required to unlock further growth in the sector.
These priorities closely align with work already underway through the Cabinet-endorsed Tourism Growth Partnership Plan. The TGPP is itself built on partnership between government and the private sector and focuses on five key priorities: Ease of Access; Coordinated Destination Marketing; Safety and Security; Tourism Product Development; and Job Creation.
Minister de Lille said Tourism therefore enters Phase Three with an established partnership model and a clear programme of action.
“We are not starting from zero. Through the Tourism Growth Partnership Plan, government and the private sector have already agreed on the barriers constraining tourism growth and the interventions required to address them. Operation Vulindlela now gives us an opportunity to bring greater momentum, coordination and accountability to this work as we continue to demonstrate that tourism policy is economic policy.”
Trough the TGPP, a Project Management Office has been appointed and a dashboard has been established to measure progress against the macro targets set for the sector and to track implementation across the respective workstreams.
The Department will work closely with the Presidency, relevant government departments and the private sector to translate the priorities identified under Phase Three into measurable outcomes.
According to Statistics South Africa’s Tourism Satellite Account, tourism sustained 954 000 direct jobs in 2024 and contributed 4.9% to South Africa’s GDP outperforming sectors such as agriculture, utilities and construction.
