Part of the South African delegation led by Ntshona, will be a bouquet of 50 tourism products and services including small tourism businesses and emerging entrepreneurs from across nine of South Africa's provinces.
These Small and Medium Enterprises (SME)s’ presence at ITB is subsidised by the South African government through the Department of Tourism and will see them showcasing their proudly South African offerings to top decision-makers and experts from various parts of Europe.
Through initiatives that give small and emerging businesses a vital platform through which to access the global tourism market and promote the geographic spread of South Africa’s tourism experiences, South African Tourism is intentional about inclusive growth and the transformation of South Africa’s tourism sector to create sustainable job opportunities.
In his 2018 State of the Nation address, President Ramaphosa challenged the South African tourism sector to increase the number of tourist arrivals to 21 million by 2030. He also set a powerful target for the sector to double the number of people directly employed from 700,000 to 1.4 million.
International tourist arrivals to South Africa grew by 1.8% in 2018 compared to the same period in 2017 reaching the 10.5 million mark.
"Last year was a tough year for all of us marketing South Africa in the Europe region. The water crisis in Cape Town in January 2018 and the Day Zero messaging had a negative impact on Europe arrivals for the first six months of 2018; we fought back and found new ways of responsible tourism.
"South Africa has become a benchmark for how world-class cities respond to future climate threats associated with water. As Team South Africa, we will continue to use our collective passion to position and sell our country as the best tourism destination in the world," adds Ntshona.
No less than 10,000 companies and organisations from over 180 countries will be represented in 26 halls at ITB. South Africa will be exhibiting at Hall number 20 at stand 138 at ITB Berlin.
"Europe is a key region for us. Visibility of our unique and authentic brand experiences at ITB Berlin is integral. While forming meaningful connections and engagements with trade who are our key partners in helping sell South Africa and with recent announcements around revised immigration regulations, there has never been a better time to convince the world that we are indeed open for business and ready to welcome tourists from all over the world," concludes Ntshona.
