For many years, South Africa has been – and still is – a popular tourist destination for travellers from all over the world. We have many unique attractions as a country, which we do well to package and market internationally through Brand South Africa (SA) – the official marketing company of SA since 2002. In collaboration with the Department of Tourism and its marketing arm, South African Tourism, Brand SA works to develop our international brand reputation. But tourism is about more than protecting and enjoying natural beauty, world heritage sites, and wildlife.

The tourism sector not only brings in important revenue from international visitors, but also helps to maintain SA’s reputation as an attractive investment and business destination, which in turn provides more opportunities and jobs for South Africans. Brand SA’s key agenda includes using tourism to grow domestic and international investment – a strategy that goes beyond the more conventional positioning of SA as a leisure tourist destination. Building a national brand that encourages local and foreign investment, tourism, and trade is a way to boost economic growth, job creation, poverty alleviation, and social cohesion.

South Africa as an investment destination

Building SA’s brand reputation involves making it more globally competitive. As Brand SA points out, our multisector economy is worth around R7 trillion and represents about 12% of the African continent’s total gross domestic product (GDP). As the most developed and technologically advanced economy in Africa, SA has many advantages as an investment destination – underlined by the fact that more multinational companies operate here than anywhere else in Africa.

Although our mining sector has contracted in recent years, our mineral reserves still contain nearly 90% of the platinum and 41% of the gold on earth. We have a government with a free-market approach to business, with many regulatory bodies to safeguard the interests of businesses and consumers alike. Our current investment activity is spread across different sectors of the economy, with financial services, real estate, and business services all prominent. Fixed investment expenditure is overwhelmingly led by the private sector.

SA is also a major regional business and investment player, with active membership of the Southern African Development Community and the Southern African Customs Union agreement with Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, and Eswatini. In the international business arena, our current leadership of the G20 intergovernmental forum for 2025 is the first for an African country. We are also a member of the World Trade Organization and the BRICS association of emerging economies, as well as a major player in the African Continental Free Trade Area. All these factors position SA as a business and investment gateway to Africa for investors around the world.

SA had a significant engagement to boost investment and the national brand during our recent presence at the 2025 World Economic Forum as the leader of the G20. The annual meeting at Davos gave SA the opportunity to address business leaders, government leaders, and heads of state about the themes we want to focus on in the G20 this year – solidarity, equality, and sustainability.

South Africa as a tourist destination

SA is well known for its geographical distinctiveness and its natural and cultural diversity. These features – expressed in the old advertising slogan ‘A world in one country’ – are part of what makes SA a globally compelling tourism destination. Lying between the cold Atlantic and warm Indian oceans, the country occupies only about 2% of the world’s land area. However, it is home to an impressive 10% of the world’s plant species, 7% of the reptiles, birds, and mammals, and 15% of coastal marine species.

This amazing natural richness contains 9 distinct biomes within our borders, 5 world heritage sites, 22 national parks, and hundreds of game and nature reserves. The variety is astounding – it includes heritage sites like the world-famous Cradle of Humankind, Robben Island, the protected Cape Floral Region, the Kruger National Park, and many others.

The tourism and hospitality sector supports a wide range of small businesses. The year 2024 saw a 12% year-on-year increase in income from tourist accommodation only, in part due to growth in short-term-rental properties on apps like Airbnb. The growth, part of an upward recovery trajectory since the Covid lockdowns, continued into 2025, according to the Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (Fedhasa). International arrivals increased by 4.3% and overall tourist numbers saw a significant rise of 7.8% in January 2025.

There are many small-business categories across the sector, including tour operators and guides, accommodation providers, and restaurants catering to tourists. Growth in the sector has not been uniform across all regions – Fedhasa notes that smaller operators in less-frequented provinces like Limpopo and parts of Eastern Cape continue to struggle because of the uneven distribution of visitors and infrastructural challenges. In contrast, provinces like Western Cape, with a multitude of natural attractions and better infrastructure, continues to break occupancy and tourism records.

Business opportunities in tourism

Statistics South Africa tells us that our tourism sector is on a solid growth curve, offering many opportunities for small businesses to expand or engage. Our total number of arrivals for business and leisure tourism reached almost 9 million in 2024 – up 5.1% on the previous year. The industry now contributes 8.8% of GDP and supports 1.68 million jobs in total.

Africa is the main source of tourists to our country, making up 76% of arrivals. Zimbabwe led with 2,183,260 visitors (up 3.6%), while Ghana saw an impressive 149% increase, driven by a visa waiver introduced in November 2023. But growth from most regions of the world was noticeable last year, including the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

Given that visa requirements and air travel are being improved, the industry is expecting continued growth in the short term, despite the volatility of the global political picture. If you are thinking of expanding your business in the sector or launching a venture to take advantage of tourism’s growth, now might be the time.

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