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Tourism not laying golden eggs for SA
THE ECONOMY
TOURISM to South Africa is increasing steadily, but SA is vying against attractive emerging economies for tourists' foreign exchange. According to The Economist, Hong Kong is the emerging economy making the most money from tourism. In 1996, foreign visitors spent $11.2-billion (excluding transport costs), almost 17% up on 1995. Per person, Singapore was tops, with foreign visitors spending $9.4-billion or $3 137 per inhabitant. On a per person basis, Turkey showed the biggest growth (31.9%) in tourism receipts, followed by Hungary (30%), the Czech Republic (21.2%), China (20.2%) and Russia (19.8%). Tourism receipts in Taiwan and Portugal fell, while there was a marginal increase in Colombia, Greece, Chile and South Africa. The Economist said that in terms of regions the former Soviet Union had the fastest growth by far in 1996. Foreign visitors spent $5.6-billion there, mostly in Russia. Exact figures for SA are not yet available, but Satour estimates that SA would have earned around R9-billion in foreign exchange over 1996. Central Statistical Service figures show while there was a 15% rise in the number of foreign tourists visiting SA in the last quarter of 1996, the increase for the year as a whole was only 7.8%. CSS figures released this week show that in the year to January the number of foreign tourists grew by an appreciable 11%, while there was only a 3% increase in the number of business travellers. The Tourism Info Brief says the relatively poor figures for December/January raise some questions about the necessity for the current construction of more than 100 hotels and resorts in the country. The newsletter says despite some positive factors, like Cape Town's short-listing for the 2004 Olympic bid and the privatisation of Sun Air and Aventura, "concerns around the industry remain". It called for caution in bringing in big foreign investors, such as the Dolphin Group in Mpumalanga.
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