South Africa’s leading tourism associations have collectively decided not to hand over almost R500 million (US$28.6 million) in collected TOMSA Levy funds to the country’s official destination marketing agency, SA Tourism.
The levy, a voluntary private-sector led 1% charge on travel and tourism services collected from tourism businesses and administered by the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA), has historically been handed over to SA Tourism to support global marketing campaigns.
Audit concerns raised
Speaking at the launch of SATSA Conference 2025 in Johannesburg this week, SATSA CEO David Frost said the TBCSA was not obliged to hand over the funding to SA Tourism. “We have established mechanisms over the past several years to try and engage SA Tourism in an understanding of what happens to that money and to have a greater say, but it’s been a fairly arduous process. At the same time, they’ve had qualified audits,” said Frost.
SA Tourism received a qualified audit opinion for its 2023/24 financial year due to material misstatements in its financial statements, weak internal controls, and irregular expenditure.
“We have taken a decision collectively to say that this is our money as the private sector, and now’s the time for us to do something with that money,” Frost said.
With the current inefficiencies at SA Tourism, following Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille’s contentious dismissal of the former Board last month, there is “absolutely no reason for the money to be handed over”, SATSA Chairperson Oupa Pilane said.
“As the private sector, through the leadership of the TBCSA, we need to be able to use that money to market South Africa. I would urge TOMSA’s Board of directors and the TBCSA to sit with the industry associations and develop our own marketing strategy. At least until we can get SA Tourism functioning properly again.”
Frost said more details on the TOMSA Levy would be shared at the TBCSA Leadership Conference taking place at Sun City from September 17-19.
Frost said that private sector task teams were in place in South Africa’s top source markets to drive marketing campaigns, harnessing the “just shy of half-a-billion rand” in the TOMSA Collaborative Fund, he said.
“We need to draw on the private sector to develop plans for what we could put into play over the next year or 18 months in those markets,” Frost said, suggesting the revival of joint marketing agreements. “This is something we used historically with a massive injection of funds from a business trust, with the private sector managing that process.”
Tourism promotion money needs to be spent where the overall industry benefitted the most, said Tourvest Destination Management CEO Martin Wiest. “I think it’s better in the hands of private industry, as long as it’s administered in a neutral, balanced, well-administered and deeply reconcilable fashion. I do think that with the current drama we have in SA Tourism, that is not the right home for half-a-billion rand.”
Wiest stressed the need for more fam trips and travel agent educationals to the country. “I would spend the vast majority of that money to bring travel agents to South Africa to experience our country and our people first-hand. Many of the people who knew South Africa have either retired or left the industry during COVID. So we have a whole set of advisors in travel agencies that are curious about our country,” Wiest said.
