The Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (FEDHASA) looks forward to working with the new Minister of Tourism, Lindiwe Sisulu, on a number of exciting new opportunities to bring additional tourism to South Africa, which will create many thousands of jobs and buoy the economy.
One such opportunity, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, was that of the ‘digital nomad’, said FEDHASA National Chairperson, Rosemary Anderson. This new trend sees employees working remotely from any destination in the world.
According to Anderson, the digital nomad trend could grow the tourism and hospitality sectors in South Africa by as much as one million bed nights per year. This would be a game-changer for the country and the tourism industry.
She pointed out that good quality connectivity and infrastructure were essential to digital nomads. South Africa was one of the few countries in Africa, she said, that could robustly provide the infrastructure and the strong connectivity required to work remotely, within internationally well-priced, beautiful settings.
“Without any marketing, Cape Town already ranked #16th in the world for remote working,” Anderson highlighted. “With the correct marketing and visa facilitation, FEDHASA believes we can get Cape Town to rank #3 in the world.
“Embracing the digital nomad market could bring a catalytic change to our tourism industry by creating hundreds of thousands of jobs.”
Anderson said important role players in tourism were keen to work with Minister Sisulu to turn the COVID-19 trauma into a “magnificent opportunity to propel South African tourism to a level it has never reached before”.
