SA tourism minister to engage with trade in China and Japan

In an effort to grow arrivals from Asia's Pacific region, South Africa's Minister of Tourism, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane will embark on a roadshow to Beijing, Shenzhen, China and Japan, where she will attend the third Japan Tourism Expo in Osaka as well as the G20 Ministers of Tourism meeting in Hokkaido from 21-23 October and 24-25 October 2019 respectively.

18 Oct 2019

SA tourism minister to engage with trade in China and Japan

©Helen Jobson via 123RF

The key objective of Minister Kubayi-Ngubane’s visit is to engage with the trade in order to grow arrivals to South Africa from the region. This will be done by highlighting South Africa’s variety of tourism products and experiences, thereby re-affirming South Africa as a premium destination for both Chinese and Japanese travellers.

Minister Kubayi-Ngubane will also visit Tencent headquarters in Shenzhen, where she will oversee the signing of a memorandum of understanding between South African Tourism and Tencent - with specified commitments to work together to increase South Africa's awareness in the Chinese market and to ensure a superior visitor experience for Chinese travellers when they arrive in South Africa. Tencent is a leading provider of Internet value-added services in China.

Quesrt to double international tourist arrivals

South Africa has enjoyed very healthy diplomatic relations with both China and Japan and Minister Kubayi-Ngubane’s visit is a testament and demonstrates that South Africa is a 'must visit now' quality destination.

In his State of the Nation Address earlier this year, President Cyril Ramaphosa re-affirmed the tourism sector as being crucial for the future of South Africa as the country is looking to double its international tourist arrivals from 10,5 million to 21 million by 2030. Therefore, both China and Japan play a significant part in South Africa’s tourism arrivals.

"South Africa is open for business and remains an appealing destination for both Chinese and Japanese travellers, offering abundant, diverse, world-class, accredited attractions supported by transport, services and communications infrastructure that competes with the best in the world," said Minister Kubayi-Ngubane.

The visit will serve as a valuable networking opportunity for creating and consolidating new business and trade opportunities and will boost confidence in the destination among outbound operators, travel agents and the media in the region.