The Department of Tourism and Department of Public Works and Infrastructure have signed a three-year Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) aimed at improving the preparation of tourism infrastructure projects and bringing more of them to the point where they can attract investment.
Source: Department of Tourism
Under the MoA, Infrastructure South Africa (ISA), a programme within the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, will provide the Tourism Department with specialist investment expertise and transaction advisory services.
The support is intended to strengthen the department's pipeline of tourism infrastructure projects and improve their readiness for investment.
Support for project pipeline
The Tourism Department will retain overall accountability and ownership of its Investment Facilitation Service, while ISA will provide the technical and transaction support covered by the agreement.
ISA provides services related to infrastructure planning, management and delivery.
The agreement also provides for the transfer of skills, knowledge and technical competencies to strengthen the Tourism Department's capacity to prepare and facilitate tourism infrastructure investment.
"Tourism Policy is Economic Policy. If we want tourism to make an even greater contribution to economic growth and job creation, we must build the infrastructure that makes investment and new tourism experiences possible.
"This partnership will also facilitate the transfer of skills, knowledge and technical competencies to strengthen the Department of Tourism's long-term capacity to prepare and facilitate tourism infrastructure investment. We must turn tourism potential into bankable projects, investment and ultimately jobs," says Minister de Lille.
The agreement comes days after President Cyril Ramaphosa launched Phase Three of the Government-Business Partnership, with tourism identified as one of the sectors capable of accelerating inclusive economic growth and employment.
Infrastructure is also one of the areas being prioritised under the partnership. Infrastructure South Africa released its third Construction Book this week, identifying 110 projects expected to enter procurement over the next 12 to 18 months, with a combined value of about R395bn.
Private investment focus
Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson said the agreement would help move tourism infrastructure projects from planning towards implementation.
“Through this partnership, we can help move priority tourism infrastructure projects from plans on paper to shovels in the ground, while crowding in private sector investment and creating new economic opportunities across the country. This is another practical step towards our goal of turning South Africa into a construction site and using infrastructure as a catalyst for economic growth and job creation,” says Minister Macpherson.
For the tourism industry, the agreement means the department's existing project pipeline will have access to specialist support intended to address the investment and transaction work required before projects can be taken to potential investors and financiers.
Tourism investment summit
The partnership comes ahead of the second Tourism Infrastructure Investment Summit, which will take place in Gauteng on 30 September and 1 October 2026.
The first summit, held in 2025, was intended to connect tourism infrastructure projects with potential investors and financiers.
The second summit will continue with the development of a pipeline of tourism infrastructure projects from both the public and private sectors, with a focus on projects that are credible and ready for investment.
