The strong rand hurt foreign inbound tourism (FIT) into South Africa in 2004, the South African Treasury said in its Budget Review on Wednesday.
“Rand strength probably contributed to the fall in South Africa’s attractiveness as an international tourist destination from a ranking of 28th in terms of tourist arrivals in 2002 to 30th today,” the Treasury said.
The number of foreign tourists visiting South Africa grew by only 1% year-on-year (y/y) in the first nine months of 2004, which was well below the 12% growth of tourist arrivals globally.
The World Tourism Organisation’s forecast of 5% global tourism growth in 2005 and improvements to tourism infrastructure and services, should contribute to a moderate recovery in South African FIT numbers, the Treasury said.
Consumer surveys indicate that South African individuals are generally upbeat in their assessment of the economy’s prospects and of their own circumstances, which is why South African Tourism has targeted domestic tourism, which for most countries forms the bulk of tourism revenue.
Last week the Tourism Business Council reported a 17% y/y rise in the January 2005 receipts of the voluntary tourism levy, which seems to indicate that the tourism business is booming despite the strong rand. – I-Net Bridge