South Africa: SA Tourism Forecast to Defy Ebola Fears

Johannesburg — THE South African tourism industry is projected to remain steady despite the outbreak of the Ebola virus that is ravaging parts of West Africa.

As the Southern African country kicked off Tourism Month, the continent remained on high-alert in the wake of reported Ebola cases across select Western African countries, leading to questions about the potential impact of Ebola on South Africa's travel and tourism sector.

"The South African tourism sector is likely to remain steady because the country is yet to detect any cases of Ebola among local or foreign citizens visiting the country.

"This positions South Africa as a relatively safe destination for tourists, compared to the affected countries," said Wiza Nyondo, Head of Niche Areas at FNB Business.

Nonetheless, in its latest findings, the FNB Tourism Business Index reported a slight drop during the second quarter of 2014.

The lower reading emanated from areas such as travel agents, transport operators and conference centres.

The accommodation sector still performed better than normal.

Despite the slight decrease in the second quarter, the SA Tourism sector remains one of the better performing sectors in the country with sustained growth vital in boosting South Africa's economic growth, which is yet to break the 1 percent GDP growth per capita mark.

"Tourism is one of the sectors which need to remain resilient in order to boost South Africa's overall economic growth.

"The two remaining quarters of the year will be crucial in shaping the overall performance of the tourism sector in 2014," said Nyondo.

 

By Mthulisi Sibanda

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