In a cramped office above a bustling souvenir shop on Long Street, Thandiwe Mokoena is doing something she thought she would never do again: hiring. After four years of scraping by on freelance gigs and savings, the 41-year-old tour operator is bringing on three new guides. Her booking calendar is full through August. And for the first time since 2019, she is allowing herself to believe that the nightmare is over.
“I was ready to sell my minibus,” Mokoena says, laughing as she gestures to the gleaming vehicle parked outside. “Now I’m thinking of buying a second one.”
Mokoena’s story is not unique. According to a major new economic report released this week, South Africa’s tourism sector is not just recovering from the twin blows of the COVID-19 pandemic and the July 2021 civil unrest — it is thriving. And in doing so, it is outperforming several traditional industries that have long been considered the bedrock of the nation’s economy.
The numbers are nothing short of remarkable:
- Nearly 954,000 direct jobs supported by tourism in 2024.
- That represents 5.7% of the national workforce.
- Approximately one in every 18 South Africans is now employed in tourism.
- The sector’s contribution to GDP rose to 4.9% , surpassing pre-pandemic levels for the first time.
- Total tourism spending reached R779.2 billion , led overwhelmingly by domestic travellers.
- International arrivals hit 10.5 million in 2025, with continued strong growth recorded in early 2026.
For an economy that grew only 0.6% in 2024 and faces persistent challenges including load-shedding, logistics bottlenecks, and a high cost of living, tourism has emerged as an unlikely champion — a bright spot in an otherwise grey economic landscape.
The Numbers That Tell the Story
The data, compiled by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) in partnership with Oxford Economics, was released to coincide with the start of the Easter school holidays — traditionally one of the busiest periods for domestic travel. But unlike previous years, where the industry’s recovery was described as “fragile” or “uneven,” the 2026 report uses words like “robust,” “sustained,” and “transformative.”
Let’s break down the key figures:
Jobs: The 954,000 direct tourism jobs represent a 12.4% increase from 2023. When indirect employment (supply chain, construction, agriculture supplying hotels, etc.) is included, the total number of jobs supported by tourism exceeds 1.6 million. That is more than mining, more than agriculture, and rapidly catching up to manufacturing.
GDP Contribution: Tourism’s 4.9% share of GDP is up from 3.7% in 2022 and higher than the 4.6% recorded in 2019, the last full year before the pandemic. This means tourism has not only recovered but has grown its share of the economic pie.
Spending: Domestic travellers spent R487 billion, accounting for 62.5% of total tourism spending. International visitors contributed R292 billion. The domestic dominance is particularly significant because it insulates the sector from global shocks.
Arrivals: The 10.5 million international arrivals in 2025 represent 89% of 2019’s record 11.7 million. But growth in early 2026 suggests that 2026 could surpass 2019 levels by as much as 5-8%.
Why Tourism Is Winning
Economists and industry leaders point to several factors driving tourism’s outperformance:
1. The Weak Rand
South Africa’s persistently weak currency — trading above R19 to the US dollar for much of 2025 — has made the country an exceptionally affordable destination for international tourists. “A European or American traveller can live like a king here for what they would spend on a budget hotel at home,” said David Frost, CEO of the Southern African Tourism Services Association (SATSA).
2. Domestic Travel Surge
South Africans, battered by high interest rates and inflation, have turned to local travel instead of expensive international trips. “We saw a massive ‘staycation’ culture emerge during the pandemic,” said Frost. “It never went away. People realised that the Drakensberg is as beautiful as the Swiss Alps, and the Wild Coast is as stunning as the Caribbean.”
3. Air Access Improvements
Visa reforms, including the e-visa system for key markets like India and China, and the return of several international airlines (including Delta’s direct Atlanta-Johannesburg route and Ethiopian Airlines’ expanded network) have made South Africa more accessible than ever.
4. Major Events
The 2024 All Africa Games in Accra (which boosted regional travel) and the 2025 British & Irish Lions rugby tour to South Africa (which brought tens of thousands of high-spending British fans) acted as powerful catalysts.
5. Safety Perceptions (Slowly) Improving
While crime remains a serious concern, sustained marketing campaigns highlighting “safe tourism corridors” and visible policing in key areas like the Cape Town CBD and the Kruger National Park have begun to shift international perceptions.
The Industries Tourism Has Outpaced
To understand the magnitude of tourism’s achievement, one must compare it to traditional economic heavyweights:
- Mining: Employment in mining fell by 3% in 2024, to 470,000 jobs. Tourism now employs more than twice as many people as mining.
- Agriculture: While agriculture employs roughly 850,000 people, the sector has seen stagnant growth and job losses due to droughts and rising input costs. Tourism has overtaken agriculture in both job numbers and GDP contribution.
- Manufacturing: Manufacturing remains larger (1.8 million jobs, 12% of GDP), but it has lost 85,000 jobs since 2019. Tourism is growing; manufacturing is shrinking.
“Tourism is the only major labour-absorbing sector that is consistently adding jobs,” said economist Dr. Roelof Botha. “Every hotel room built, every tour guide hired, every curio sold creates a chain of economic activity that reaches deep into townships and rural areas.”
The Human Faces Behind the Numbers
Statistics are cold. The lives they represent are not.
In Graskop, Mpumalanga, just outside the Kruger National Park, 24-year-old Sipho Nkosi was stacking shelves at a spaza shop a year ago, earning R1,500 a month. Today, he is a field guide at a luxury lodge, tracking rhino and leopard for American tourists. He earns R8,500 plus tips.
“I used to dream of being a game ranger when I was a kid,” Nkosi says, his uniform still crisp. “But my family could not afford the training. Then a NGO offered a free course funded by tourism levies. Now I have a career. Not just a job.”
In the Bo-Kaap district of Cape Town, 55-year-old Fatima Jacobs has turned her mother’s recipe for koeksisters into a thriving business. Her small kitchen now employs four women from the neighbourhood, supplying pastries to three nearby hotels.
“The hotels used to bring in frozen goods from Joburg,” she says, dusting flour from her apron. “Now they buy from me. Fresh. Every morning. The tourists love it. And my ladies can send their children to school.”
These are the stories that do not make it into government reports. But they are the reason the numbers matter.
The Risks Ahead: Can the Boom Last?
For all the optimism, industry leaders are quick to caution against complacency. Several threats loom:
⚠️ Load-Shedding: While load-shedding has eased in 2026 compared to the crisis years of 2023-2024, it has not disappeared. High-end lodges have invested heavily in solar and batteries, but smaller B&Bs and restaurants remain vulnerable.
⚠️ Water Security: Cape Town’s “Day Zero” crisis of 2018 remains a cautionary tale. The city has since built desalination plants and water recycling facilities, but other tourism hubs like Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) face acute water shortages.
⚠️ Crime and Safety: High-profile incidents of tourists being robbed or carjacked continue to damage the brand. The 2025 murder of a German visitor in Mpumalanga made international headlines and led to a wave of cancellations.
⚠️ Visa Backlogs: Despite reforms, the visa application process for key markets like India remains slow and opaque. Potential visitors often wait months for approvals.
⚠️ Infrastructure Decay: Potholed roads, broken streetlights, and unreliable airports (especially Durban’s King Shaka International, which has faced maintenance issues) undermine the visitor experience.
Government and Industry Respond
Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille, who has overseen the sector’s recovery since 2023, hailed the new data as “proof that tourism is not a nice-to-have but a must-have for South Africa’s economy.”
“We have moved from crisis to comeback,” de Lille said at a media briefing in Cape Town. “But we are not stopping here. Our goal is 15 million international arrivals and 1.5 million direct tourism jobs by 2028.”
To achieve that, the Department of Tourism has announced a three-point plan:
- Safety First: An expansion of the Tourism Safety Monitors programme to all major destinations, plus a dedicated tourist police unit in hotspots.
- Visa Revolution: A fully digital, 72-hour visa approval system for low-risk countries, to be piloted in India and China by July 2026.
- Domestic Push: A “Mzansi Staycation” voucher scheme, offering South Africans discounts on accommodation and attractions during off-peak seasons.
The private sector is also stepping up. Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (FEDHASA) chairperson Rosemary Anderson announced a skills development fund to train 10,000 young people as chefs, guides, and front-of-house staff over the next three years.
“We have the jobs,” Anderson said. “Now we need the people to fill them. And we need the government to give us the environment to keep growing.”
World Tourism Day and Beyond
As South Africa prepares to mark World Tourism Day later this year, the contrast with the dark days of 2020 could not be starker. Then, hotels were empty, airlines were grounded, and tour operators were selling their vehicles to pay rent. Now, the industry is hiring. Building. Investing.
Thandiwe Mokoena, the tour operator on Long Street, sums it up best.
“People ask me if I’m worried about load-shedding or crime or the economy,” she says. “Of course I am. But I was worried about those things before the pandemic too. The difference is that now, the phones are ringing. The bookings are coming. And for the first time in years, I feel like I can breathe.”
She pauses, glancing at the minibus outside.
“Actually,” she says with a grin, “I think I’ll call the dealership tomorrow. Let’s make it two.”
The Bottom Line
South Africa’s tourism sector has defied gravity. While mining shrinks, agriculture stagnates, and manufacturing treads water, tourism is creating jobs at a pace that has surprised even the most optimistic forecasters. Nearly one in 18 South Africans now works in the industry. Domestic travellers are spending record amounts. International arrivals are climbing back toward pre-pandemic highs.
But the boom is fragile. Load-shedting, crime, water shortages, and infrastructure decay could derail the recovery at any moment. The government’s response — safety measures, visa reforms, and domestic marketing — will determine whether 2026 is remembered as the year tourism peaked or the year it truly took off.
For now, though, the numbers speak for themselves. Tourism is no longer South Africa’s best-kept secret. It is the economy’s brightest star.
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