Problems in South African tourism

In the last five years South Africa has been ranked by travel experts as one of the top tourist destinations in the world. Every year more and more people are choosing South Africa as a place to spend their vacations. Going on holiday means getting away from all the problems in your life, relaxing and enjoying the surroundings of your destination. South Africa is always looking foward to having tourists and to teach them about our heritage and culture.

Unfortunately there is a huge factor that is largely affecting Tourism South Africa, and that is crime. With the constantly increasing crime rate, murders and gang violance in Cape Town, Tourism SA is finding very difficult that South Africa is a safe country to come and visit. It would really be unfortunate if a tourist's luggage is stolen at OR Tambo Airport or have their cellphone taken while walking down the streets of Johannesburg.

But is Tourism SA doing about this matter? What measures are being put into place to ensure safety and security of tourists? Tourism Safety Initiative was formed to ensure the safety of tourists.
Over the years the TSI played an important role in curbing tourism related crime incidents. TSI has helped curb the strong perceptions that exist internationally that South Africa is an unsafe destination.

With this initiative, South Africa has been given a second chance to position the country positively in the hearts and minds of the world’s travellers. Tourists can come and vist SA without any hestitation.

South Africans need to explore their country

I don't know about you, but i love to travel and anything else associated with travelling. There are a number of tourists attractions in SA such as Table mountain, Drakensberg, The winelands just to name a few. These attractions are what make SA to be a vibrant and diverse country. Ordinary South African citizens often hear about these places, but the question is, how many of us ordinary South Africans actually visit these places?


table mountain night time



The Minister of Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk once called on South Africans to be tourists in their own country and to experience what millilons of international tourists are drawn to. He said that South Africans need to experience the sheer beauty of their land, its rich culture and heritage, and the warmth and hospitality of their fellow citizens.

 I find it very interesting that he made this call yet there are not permanent measures put in place to help South Africans to expore their country. It seems as though Tourism South Africa would much rather advertise our country internationally than help it's own people to explore and learn about Mzansi.

 Looking back, there was once the Sho't Left campaign but it soon filtered away after a year or so and no one bothered to bring something else to the table. I personally think that by not having such campaigns, we citizens don't get as much encouragement as international tourists do. Therefore leading to us having less knowledge about  our country and its heritage. We lose so much interest in our country that all we focus on is the negative things such as crime, poverty and unemployement.

So I think it's about time that we shove all those negative thoughts in the closet and start packing good thoughts and excitement for the road ahead. If the government doesn't do it for us, I am pretty sure that we can do it for ourselves because it is our country after all.