South Africa gains popularity as travel hotspot

South Africa is gradually becoming the most preferred tourist destination among international tourists.
Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk revealed that South Africa's different cultures and products were the main attractions.
Delivering a public lecture (themed 'Tourism Linking Cultures') on Monday at the University of the Free State's Qwaqwa campus ahead of World Tourism Day celebrations, the minister said 550 000 tourists arrived in the country before 1994.
According to the minister, the number has drastically increased, with eight million tourists having visited the country last year.
"That is a huge achievement ... and we did it together in our industry," he said, expressing confidence that more could be done to further increase the number of tourists visiting the country.
Van Schalkwyk attributed the success to good marketing strategies internationally. Most international tourists who visit South Africa show interest in the different products produced by the various cultural groups.
The minister said about 40% of tourists say, "I want something unique culturally or heritage wise."
Van Schalkwyk called on South African parents to encourage their children to travel locally.
Professor Milena Ivanovic, from the School of Tourism at the University of Johannesburg, concurred that people around the world were now travelling more than before.
"They want to explore other countries and their cultures," she said, adding that most countries used their cultures to distinguish themselves from others.
Ivanovic said culture and tourism contributed to economic growth. She stressed the importance of communities to revive their cultures. "Culture can be used to show our identity."
However, she said more still needed to be done to improve tourism in South Africa, highlighting that tourist numbers were still low, despite showing signs of improvement. (via BuaNews)

7.3 million tourists visited South Africa 2010

South Africa's minister of tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, mentioned some current statistics on South African tourism in his speech at the opening ceremony of Meetings Africa 2011, Africa's business tourism lekgotla (a consultative process between groups pursuing a common goal), at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa

• Over 7.3 million tourists visited South Africa between January and November 2010
• Tourism contributed an estimated 7.7% to South Africa's Gross Domestic Product in 2010
• South Africa has already secured almost 200 meetings and conferences in South Africa over the next five years, attracting more than 300,000 delegates to the country.
• The potential economic impact of these confirmed meetings and conferences is more than R1.6 billion
• In 2009, approximately 500,000 business tourists came to South Africa, about 4.7% of total tourist arrivals. 
• This represents a total economic value of about R4 billion with business tourists spending an average of R5,300 during their stay in South Africa. 
• The average length of stay business tourists also increased from 4.6 nights in 2009.
• According to the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) South Africa is ranked 34th globally and first in Africa for 2009 in terms of the number of meetings hosted.
• Africa hosted 3.8% of the meetings or 314 meetings with 90 held in South Africa
• Cape Town was the leading city in Africa with 49 meetings, Johannesburg was ranked 5th, and Durban 10th, compared to other African cities.