Tourism Month invites us to celebrate South Africa’s destinations, but it should also prompt a more important question: what makes people choose one place over another?
Biodiversity-based tourism, travel that involves using or enjoying biodiversity, including visits to experience ecosystems and species, is a major driver of tourism.
In 2019, domestic and international biodiversity visitors spent more than R60.6bn, directly supporting 91,836 jobs.
Domestic visitors accounted for R42.7bn, or 70.4% of this spending.
This suggests that accessible local attractions are major socio-economic drivers, as they form networks that support jobs, communities and conservation.
This trend is supported internationally.
The World Bank’s June 2026 Tourism Watch notes that higher transport costs and geopolitical uncertainty may increasingly favour regional and shorter-haul travel.
This strengthens the case for helping people discover meaningful experiences closer to home.
Wikus Engelbrecht 15 Sep 2026 Travellers are buying more than a ticket
A tourism brand is sometimes treated as a name, logo, slogan or advertising campaign.
These may help people recognise a destination, but they are not the destination’s brand in its fullest sense.
Travellers are really buying an expectation.
They want to know what they will experience, whether it will be worth their time and money, and how the place will make them feel.
The Oxford Economics Global Tourism Key Themes 2026 report identifies value, authentic experiences, culture and nature as important influences on travel decisions in 2026.
Value doesn’t necessarily mean choosing the cheapest option.
Visitors consider accessibility, service, affordability and variety, but they also remember authenticity, hospitality, enjoyment and what they learned. A strong tourism brand must address both.
From attracting attention to inspiring a visit
The way travellers discover destinations is also changing.
Social media, online reviews, mobile services and artificial intelligence are becoming part of the planning journey.
These tools give people more information, but they also expose them to more competing claims, making trust increasingly valuable.
Technology may help a destination reach people, but it cannot make the experience believable on its own.
Tourism brands still need credible voices, recognisable local stories and an honest representation of what visitors will encounter.
The experience must keep the promise
The most creative campaign cannot compensate for unnecessary friction when a visitor arrives.
If communications promise welcome and accessibility, people should be able to find practical information, understand the costs, reach the destination and navigate it easily.
If a brand promises authentic culture or nature, it must protect those assets rather than treat them as attractive backgrounds for content.
South African Tourism’s Destination Sustainability Index reinforces the point that destination competitiveness depends on more than promotion.
It is also shaped by destination management, transport, environmental care, community impact and the pressure placed on local resources.
The visitor experience therefore belongs to everyone involved in delivering the destination, not only its marketing team.
What happens at the entrance, on a walking trail, in an interaction with an employee or during a community activity becomes part of the brand.
For biodiversity tourism destinations, this responsibility also means helping people care for the places they enjoy.
Community engagements should reconnect people with nature, especially where urban life offers few opportunities for that connection, and nurture future biodiversity stewards.
Protecting the biodiversity that makes destinations worth visiting means giving people opportunities to learn about nature and play an active role in its conservation, through outdoor learning, citizen science and meaningful community participation.
Guided walks, school visits and opportunities to record local plants and wildlife can help translate enjoyment into understanding and action.
The aim is a lasting relationship with nature, not simply a memorable visit.
For tourism brands in Southern Africa, conservation is therefore part of keeping the promise and safeguarding the experiences future visitors will enjoy.
One shared brand can tell many local stories
This thinking informs the South African National Biodiversity Institute’s (Sanbi) Tourism Month campaign, #WeAreSanbi.
The campaign uses short videos featuring managers of Sanbi’s national botanical and zoological gardens to introduce the character, biodiversity, and community role of each destination.
The purpose is not to make every garden look or sound the same.
It connects different local experiences through a shared promise: welcoming places where people can encounter, enjoy, and learn about South Africa’s biodiversity.
The garden managers provide credible local voices, while the landscapes and visitor experiences give audiences something tangible to discover.
The campaign illustrates how an umbrella brand can create national recognition without erasing the identity of individual destinations.
Three lessons for tourism brands
First, a destination brand should be built from what is genuinely present.
Its people, biodiversity, heritage and culture provide a stronger foundation than a story invented solely for a campaign.
Second, brands must make value and access visible.
Potential visitors need clear information about what they can experience, why it is worthwhile and how they can participate.
Removing uncertainty can be as influential as generating excitement.
Finally, the destination must consistently deliver what its communications promise.
The most effective measure of a tourism brand is not only how many people see its content.
It is whether they visit, enjoy the experience, recommend it and want to return.
Tourism Month is an opportunity to tell South Africa’s destination stories.
But the strongest stories go beyond attracting attention; they create an honest promise and then give visitors an experience that keeps it.
