File: US President Donald Trump welcomes South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to the White House in Washington, DC.
LONDON - South Africa's Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille says the upcoming G20 leaders' summit in Johannesburg is a huge opportunity for the country to showcase itself to the world and bring in more tourists.
Speaking to eNCA, de Lille says South Africa's entire G20 presidency has been a boon for the economy.
“The benefit has been tremendous for our hospitality sector. A lot more jobs have been created. For every twelve arrivals coming to our country, we created at least one direct and one indirect job. It's been very, very good for the tourism sector.'
But one person who won't be coming to the leaders' summit later this month is US President Donald Trump.
Trump is sending Vice President JD Vance to represent the USA, amid a period of strained ties between the United States and South Africa.
De Lille says that shouldn't overshadow the event: “For me, as long as we've got a representative from America, whether it's the President or the Vice President, to hand over the chair of the G20, that will be sufficient.”
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Patricia de Lille was at the World Travel Market in London. It's one of the world's most prestigious travel and tourism events, and a large South African delegation exhibits there each year.
She acknowledges there have been challenges in one key aim - boosting visitor numbers from BRICS countries.
But she says progress is now being made in easing the visa process for visitors from China and India, which she believes will help in that regard.
The Tourism Minister says it's crucial to grow the country's visitor numbers even further.
“We've seen between January and September, a record 9-million people visiting our country. We're here to look at what our competitors are doing because it's a very competitive space, but also to tell people about our diversified offering. South Africa's not just about safaris or Table Mountain.”
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The Minister says the country also wants to show “many of the hidden gems in our less visited provinces”.
At a time when much of the world has been suffering from cost-of-living challenges and high inflation, de Lille believes South Africa has a compelling offering.
“People get value for money,” she says.
And de Lille insists it's also about the welcome people will receive. She cites testimony from G20 delegates who've been coming and going from South Africa all year.
“Of course, the G20 has helped us to get many, many first-time visitors to South Africa. And all of them are saying "we're coming back".
- Olly Barratt, eNCA London correspondent