Gauteng tourism is one of the best performing sectors in the province — recording an annual growth of more than 10%, economists said on Thursday.
Mike Schüssler, economist at T-Sec, said over 9,4-million people walked through the turnstiles at the OR Tambo International Airport from January up to September this year.
”This represents annual growth of more than 12,5% if compared to the corresponding period a year earlier,” he said.
Standard Bank economist Danelee van Dyk said Gauteng was by far South Africa’s largest tourist destination, although the majority of the visitors were business tourists.
Van Dyk said Gauteng tourism businesses should focus on the development of a magnitude of opportunities such as the 2010 World Cup and other cultural, historical and heritage sites.
”Gauteng is largely seen as a business hub, but also offers promising and exciting leisure sites and activities.
”It is important for these business owners to develop product offerings in the run-up to 2010, specifically to magnetise foreign arrivals to these sites and activities … related opportunities also exist in transport and logistics, as well as accommodation”.
Tourism’s estimated contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) increased from 4,6%t in 1993 to 8,3% in 2006.
The record-breaking 8,4-million tourists who visited South Africa in 2006 created 947 530 job opportunities.
Economists said tourism had become a lucrative business in South Africa, bringing in more than R66-billion to the economy annually. — Sapa