Patricia de Lille inaugurates Africa’s Travel Indaba in Durban

South African Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille inaugurated Africa’s Travel Indaba 2025, the largest travel trade show in Africa, in the coastal city of Durban on Tuesday, with the presence of over 1,300 exhibitors and 1,200 buyers, from more than 55 countries including 27 African countries.

Inaugurating the show, de Lille said that the large turnout of tourism stakeholders from all over Africa indicates that the continent was ready to play its due role in promoting tourism.

“Our collective presence here at the Travel Indaba signifies more than just market access. It signals Africa’s readiness to lead, to innovate, and inspire the global tourism landscape. And we are especially excited to welcome three new countries from the continent that joined us for the first time here, from Chad, St Helena and Burkina Faso, whose presence here affirms the value of the growing Africa’s Travel Indaba, but also shows us this is a truly continental platform,’’ de Lille said in her address.

De Lille said that South African Tourism has continued its good performance from 2024 into the first quarter of the current year.

Africa’s Travel Indaba attracts tourism stakeholders from across the world (Photo: India Outbound/Varsha Singh)

“Tourism has remained a powerful driver for economic growth across the continent. In 2024, in South Africa, we welcomed 8.9 million visitors, with a direct spend of ZAR 91.6 billion, and creating at least 1.6 million jobs. And I am very pleased to say that in the first quarter of 2025, we welcomed 2.6 million tourists to South Africa, which is almost a 6 pc growth compared to last year,” de Lille said.

On a broader level, as a continent, too, Africa has been doing well, de Lille added, saying that 75 pc of South Africa’s international visitors came from the rest of Africa and Africa as a whole has recovered more than 96 pc of tourist arrival numbers compared to the pre-pandemic levels, positioning the African continent as the world’s fastest-growing regional tourism destination.

In her address, the South African Minister also laid emphasis on the importance of Asia as a key source market for South Africa and said that the measures taken by the South African government to ease visa norms received a positive feedback from Asian travel trade members, notably Chinese and Indian travel agents.

“The second phase of our ‘Trusted Tour Operator Scheme’ (TTOS) scheme has been launched to recruit tour operators from India and China. And when I checked yesterday, more than 34 tour operators from China and India had applied. What does that do? It drives up demand for more flights and now we are able to engage with airlines to show them that the demand is there,’’ says de Lille.

Shipokosa Paulus Mashatile

The Tourism Minister added that it was too early to measure the impact of TTOS on tourism traffic from India to South Africa. “It is too early to measure, because it was officially opened on February 12 and then, on February 20, we received the first 30 Chinese tourists coming in. We have now gone out for the second phase to recruit more tour operators, and we have received 41 applications from India. We have also received 44 applications from South African tour operators, but they connect directly with the tour operators of India and China. So, we are giving it six months before we measure it. But what we have got in agreement in South Africa is that we need to up our marketing campaign with the help of India and China, especially India, so that we have more targetted visits. And we need to begin to look at our packaging of these products between India and South Africa,’’ de Lille told India Outbound on the sidelines of the travel fair.

“But what is critical and what is holding us back, is the flights. Air India is ready to fly tomorrow, but we all know there is a shortage of aircrafts across the world. So, we have engaged with South African Airways and they also considering flying to India. But now that we have sorted out the visas, we are driving up the demand for more flights between the two countries. So, we still have got a lot of work to do,’’ de Lille added.

In his address Shipokosa Paulus Mashatile, Deputy President of South Africa, highlighted the importance of promoting tourism in Africa through easing travel within the continent, but warned that several challenges lay in the path of creating a more united and interconnected Africa.

“In the embrace of an interconnected Africa, it is important to recognise the obstacles that the continent encounters. Africa faces numerous challenges, including political strife, poverty, unemployment, and inequality, which have led to widespread misery, violence, and loss of life. We cannot remain silent when the fabric of our societies disintegrates, torn by widening geopolitical divides, economic tensions, and the harsh impacts of changing climates, bringing forth catastrophic consequences. These issues require our collective action. This gathering here today must confront these challenges and uncover enduring solutions. Africa can overcome any obstacle that stands in her path,’’ Mashatile said.

“We recognise that for Africa to realise its full potential, we must unlock the vast, untapped opportunities in the tourism sector within our own borders. Tourism contributes significantly to Africa’s GDP, directly and indirectly. In 2023, it contributed 6.8 pc to continent’s GDP, up from 5.9 pc in the previous year. We are determined to accelerate investment, open our skies, deepen our partnerships, and position Africa not at the margins of the global economy, but firmly at its centre, where it belongs,’’ he added.