South Africa is on the right track with its tourism marketing efforts, said Minister of Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk during the official launch of Tourism Month 2011.
He explained that while market conditions in the globe remained challenging, first quarter of 2011 results showed a positive trend. From January to April 2011 South Africa had 2,750,175 foreign tourist arrivals to South Africa, up 7.5% on the 2,558,715 recorded over the same period in 2010, with core markets holding their own and good growth being recorded from new markets such as China, Brazil and India.
He added: “Lower hotel occupancy does not mean arrivals are declining, in fact we continue to record impressive growth. It does, however, point to shifts in consumer choice and where people choose to spend their money whilst on holiday in South Africa. We need to therefore work even harder to understand the tourism market and respond to the needs of global travellers. Our major tourism revenues still come from our core markets in Europe and North America and we are working aggressively to defend and grow our position in these markets, while also actively exploring the potential for tourism growth from emerging markets in Asia, the Americas and Africa.”
South Africa will celebrate World Tourism day in Clarens in the Free State Province on 27 September.
Source: SA Tourism Update
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