The strong rand is being blamed for killing tourism to South Africa, while flights to the country are full. Is this an anomaly, a mystery — or something else? The truth is stranger than fiction.
Last week senior representatives of the tourism industry were in London for the World Travel Market, where vast sums were spent on marketing and PR. Yet they achieved little in getting tourists to South Africa. Why?
In tourism the important factors are access, access and access. A country can have fantastic beaches, landscape, wildlife, history and culture, but without access tourism cannot thrive.
Access is South Africa’s problem. Europeans constitute more than 60% of foreign tourist arrivals to South Africa, and most European foreign holidays involve travel on charter flights — chartered by a tour operator to take holidaymakers to and from their destination, with accommodation included in the package.
Yet in the 2003/04 summer, because of stringent South African regulations, there will only be four charter flights a week from Europe to South Africa — two from Germany and one each from Britain and Ireland. Access for most foreigners will be in the economy section of scheduled flights. Successful tourism destinations worldwide have scheduled flights operating 12 months a year, and charter flights to boost capacity during the tourist season.
Add to this the 750 000 South Africans in Britain who use scheduled flights to South Africa to visit family and friends, and it is easy to see why flights are full. South Africans want to return in the South African summer, exactly when tourists want to escape the European winter.
In essence, émigré South Africans and tourists are vying for economy seats. It is an unequal contest, because South Africans know a year in advance they are coming home, whereas most tourists only choose their holiday destinations a few months in advance.
Large-scale tourism cannot be based on scheduled flights, and the South African industry is much smaller than generally claimed. About 6,4-million foreign tourists supposedly arrived last year, each spending more than R1 000 a day. But while all foreign tourists are foreign arrivals, not all foreign arrivals are foreign tourists.
Most foreign arrivals to South Africa are from Africa; they arrive overland and are more likely to be looking for work than spending R1 000 a day. Last year there were 1,8-million international (non-African) air arrivals.
The next question: How many were really R1 000-a-day tourists? The only form filled out by all foreign international air arrivals is a revenue service form, which asks the nationality of the passport holder and the purpose of the visit.
Anyone born or raised in South Africa, but with a British passport, will say they are British nationals on holiday. These South Africans are hailed as part of the increase in tourists from Britain. They will not stay in hotels, visit game reserves, take shebeen tours or buy crafts — nor spend R1 000 a day. Tourism statistics based on the South African Revenue Service form are fatally flawed. In reality, probably fewer than a million genuine foreign tourists visit South Africa each year.
The rand has nothing to do with this — whether R11 or R8 to the euro, South Africa is very attractive to Europeans. But they perceive it as an expensive destination because of the lack of plane seats at competitive prices.
Why has South Africa’s tourism industry failed to see the light? Scheduled airlines, whether privately or state owned, are not in the tourism business, they are in business to make a profit. South Africans returning to see their families are willing to pay a higher price for seats, making flying from Europe to South Africa expensive in comparison to other winter holiday destinations.
Seat yield — income per seat — dominates the financial management of scheduled airlines because route costs are fixed, while income is variable. The key to a profitable airline is a high seat yield, and to improve this airlines are replacing older Boeing 747s with smaller, more fuel-efficient aircraft.
British Airways recently introduced a super economy section, and all airlines, including SAA, understand the importance of attracting business class passengers by refinements such as flat beds. So while the demand for economy seats between Europe and South Africa is growing, the number of such seats is falling.
Can the problem of access to South Africa be solved? Yes, but it requires political will. The government needs to change the apartheid-era laws that still regulate flying to the country and actively encourage the provision of low-cost/charter flying.
Only about 100 charter flights will arrive in the 2003/04 summer, generating about 25 000 tourists. The aim should be that within a few years, our spurious 6,4-million annual foreign arrivals will become genuine, cash-spending tourists.
Mike Gold is a British tourism consultant, now based in South Africa