Tourism Brings In Big Bucks: Are They Big Enough?

Uma Khatri

Tompkins

World Literature Honors 2

13 March 2015

Tourism Brings In Big Bucks: Are They Big Enough?

Foreign languages, the smell of sunscreen, and tourists wearing embarrassing hats. Family vacations may have their ups and downs, but foreign places and adventures are sure to engage everybody. With its savannas, rivers, and cultural events, South Africa has one of the largest tourist industries within Africa (Christie/Messerli).

Ever since the global financial crisis of 2008, South Africa has largely relied on the revenue that tourism makes, as one million jobs were lost as a result of the recession (Two Billion). This caused the country to focus on increasing tourism, as 10.3 million tourists visited South Africa in 2014 alone (Industry).

South Africa’s industry is being supported by the pervasive tourism that occurs there every year, raising as much as 93 billion rand in 2012, which is about 7.6 million US dollars (Pumps). Despite the benefits tourism brings, the amount of tourists and the revenue they make are inconsistent. This puts the South African economy in danger because of the reliance on tourism dollars.

South African tourism helps the country by raising the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as well as provides and supports jobs for South African natives. According to the World Bank, over 36 billion US dollars were made from tourists in 2012, contributing to over 2.8% of the region’s GDP (Christie/Messerli). This evidence, accumulated over the year, shows just how much of an impact the tourists of South Africa make on the income of the country as a whole. According to Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom, tourism within South Africa supports one in every 11 jobs (Tourism).  Without this tourism, in what state would South Africa be?

South Africa may be depending too much on the revenue that tourism provides, because of the unpredictability of the industry. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, a new immigration law will force visitors who need advance visas to apply at the South African embassy or consulate in their home country, instead of doing it through the mail. This law is predicted to cause more than 100,000 people to lose their jobs (Industry). It is causing prospective visitors to doubt visiting Africa, because of the trouble it will take them to gain the necessary documents. If this law is already driving potential tourists to stop visiting South Africa, the economy and unemployment rate will drop even further.

The benefits of tourism for the people of South Africa are causing it’s government to strive for more. The goal of the government is to raise the number of domestic tourists to 18 million by 2020 (Pumps). As tourism is relied on more each day, the income, as well as the people, are benefiting. However, as their benefits grow, the reliance upon tourism for revenue strikes a dangerous question: Can it fulfill the expectations that the government needs it to?

Works Cited:

Christie, Iain, and Hannah Messerli. "Africa Tourism Report 2013: More Tourists Visit Africa Each Year, Boosting Economic Growth and Making the Continent Competitive with Other Regions." Www.worldbank.org. World Bank, 3 Oct. 2013. Web. 08 Mar. 2015.

"$2 Billion Contribution 'investment in the Future'." Cape Argus [South Africa] 19 June 2012: 2. Global Issues In Context. Web. 9 Mar. 2015.

 "South Africa industry: Killing the golden goose." Economist Intelligence Unit: Country ViewsWire 14 Feb. 2015. Global Issues In Context. Web. 8 Mar. 2015.

"SA pumps R100m into tourism industry." South African Official News [Pretoria, South Africa] 27 Aug. 2014. Global Issues In Context. Web. 8 Mar. 2015.

"SouthAfrica.info." South Africa's Tourism Industry. South Africa Information, 7 Dec. 2012. Web. 08 Mar. 2015.