Tourism leaders have issued a stern warning that Africa’s tourism growth will stall unless governments move beyond talk of collaboration and start funding and delivering core infrastructure.
Speaking at a Meetings Africa media briefing, a panel of tourism industry experts dismissed the term “collaboration” as an overused concept that has failed to translate into tangible results.
Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, CEO of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa, said: “Collaboration is a beautiful word. Governments always talk about it. But, in practice, it often means ‘agree with me’ rather than ‘let’s work together’.”
He said collaboration has too often failed because public-sector plans are not followed by funding and execution. “We talk about grand ideas that never see the light of day. Collaboration has to be meaningful and it has to be funded. It can’t just be a word.”
Moving huge numbers
Infrastructure emerged as one of the most critical areas requiring urgent intervention. This included aviation, rail, ports, roads and general urban planning.
MSC Cruises South Africa MD Ross Volk added: “We’re not just talking about port infrastructure. We’re talking about whether cities can handle 5 000, 10 000 or 15 000 people arriving in a single day.”
Using Miami as an example, Volk said nine cruise berths can bring more than 50 000 passengers a day into the city. This requires integrated transport systems, road access and visitor dispersal infrastructure. “Even Cape Town, which is one of the most blessed cities in the world, has a single road access to the port. If that gets blocked, you’ve got nothing,” he said.
Africa should consider where we rank in terms of global competition rather than regional benchmarks, Volk added. “Being the best in Africa is not enough. If we want the world to come here, we need to be honest about whether we are world-class by global standards, not our own.”
Critical to rural development
Andy Payne, CEO of Inzalo Investment Holdings, said tourism’s strength is in its ability to drive inclusive growth, particularly in informal and rural economies. However, he added, endless debate is costing the sector momentum.
“Tourism is perfectly suited to address youth unemployment but that opportunity gets lost in politics and endless discussion. What we need is clear roles and interdependence – not more talk.”
Interrogating arrival figures
From a South African perspective, Tshivhengwa warned that headline arrival numbers draw focus away from deeper structural weaknesses in the recovery. While inbound travel from neighbouring countries has largely rebounded, South Africa remains well behind pre-pandemic levels in its key long-haul and high-spend overseas source markets.
“We count the number of people who walk into the shop, not the number of people who buy,” he said. “That doesn’t make business sense.”
Tshivhengwa said the recovery narrative often overlooks the fact that regional arrivals, while positive from a volume perspective, do not deliver the same economic impact as long-haul travellers from markets such as Europe, India and China. “Those are the markets that make the till ring.”
Strong growth from Southern African countries alone will not drive the level of investment needed to expand accommodation, attractions and transport infrastructure, he added. “If that was enough, we would already be seeing more hotels being built in Sandton, Durban or other major centres.”
Instead, Tshivhengwa said, the industry risks celebrating recovery based on raw arrival figures without interrogating spend, length of stay or conversion. “It’s a good story to say the numbers are up but it doesn’t translate into sustainable business growth if people are not spending.”
