South Africa as an Ideal Tourism Destination

With a population of approximately 41 million and a land area of 1.27 million sq. km (nearly five times the size of the UK) South Africa's resource base for tourism is phenomenal.

The country's tourism attractiveness lies in its diversity. Some of the features which make South Africa an incredibly attractive tourism proposition include: accessible wildlife, varied and impressive scenery, unspoiled wilderness areas, diverse cultures (in particular traditional and township African cultures), generally sunny and hot climate, no 'jet lag' from Europe, a well-developed infrastructure and virtually unlimited opportunities for special interest activities such as whale-watching, wild water rafting, hiking, bird-watching, bush survival, deep-sea fishing, hunting and diving.

In addition, unique archaeological sites and battlefields, the availability of excellent conference and exhibition facilities, a wide range of sporting facilities, good communication and medical services, internationally known attractions (Table Mountain, Cape of Good Hope, Sun City, Kruger National Park, Garden Route) and unrivaled opportunities to visit other regional internationally known attractions (e.g. Victoria Falls and the Okavango Swamps) make South Africa an almost complete tourist destination.

Tourism has become a fiercely competitive business. For tourism destinations the world over, as indeed for South Africa, competitive advantage is no longer natural, but increasingly man-made - driven by science, technology, information and innovation. As such, it is not simply the stock of natural resources of South Africa that will determine her competitiveness in tourism, but rather, how these resources are managed and to what extent they are complemented with man-made innovations.

In this regard, South Africa scores well on three important fronts. First, the already well-established network of national parks (covering some 6.3% of the surface area of the country) and private nature reserves are very much 'on trend' with the demands of the increasingly environmentally sensitive visitor. Second, some companies are already leaders in global 'best practice' in ecotourism, while others have created Disneyland-like attractions in South Africa, boosting the country's name internationally. Third, the recent successful political transformation in South Africa has virtually 'opened' the country's tourism potential to the rest of the world and indeed to the previously neglected groups in society. It is not surprising that the World Tourism Organization in its 1995 review of African tourism considers South Africa to be "one of the most promising tourism destinations of the African continent". The Horwath 1995 Worldwide Hotel Industry Review concluded that South Africa's tourism potential "is outstanding, providing peace and harmony remain".