WTTC reports that tourists are returning to South Africa’s largest cities.

London, UK: The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has today revealed positive signs of recovery for the South African Travel & Tourism sector with travellers heading back to its major cities. In this article, we’ll tell you all you need to know about WTTC reports that tourists are returning to South Africa’s largest cities.
The report, researched in partnership with Oxford Economics, analyzed key indicators such as Travel & Tourism’s direct contribution to GDP, employment and traveller spend.
The results show travellers are returning to cities such as Cape Town and Johannesburg with all indicators bouncing back to pre-pandemic levels.
The WTTC Cities Economic Impact Report shows that in 2019, the Travel & Tourism sector contributed over $2.5BN to Cape Town’s economy and more than $2.1BN to Johannes-burg’s.
However, the pandemic devastated the country’s economy. In 2020, both cities Travel & Tourism’s GDP contribution dropped by more than half, falling to $1BN.
However, there is light at the end of the road. Both communities have experienced a remarkable rebound in the past two years since the border reopened.
In 2022, Cape Town’s sector is expected to have grown to $1.8BN, 28% lower than 2019 lev-els, while Johannesburg’s Travel & Tourism’s sector is forecast to be worth just over $2.2BN, 4% above 2019 levels.
South Africa has long been a popular travel destination, so it’s wonderful to see travelers returning after more than two years of unrest, according to Julia Simpson, President & CEO of WTTC. The economy and employment creation are both greatly boosted by tourism.
The importance of travel and tourism for regional and national economies, jobs, and companies must be acknowledged by the national and local governments on a continuing basis.
An increase in jobs

The travel and tourism industry in Cape Town employed more than 170,000 people in 2019. This number decreased by 32% to little over 117,000 in 2020. However, employment increased by 8% in 2021 to 127,000 jobs, and it is anticipated that employment will have increased by a pace of two and a half times that in 2022 to reach more than 152,000 jobs.

In Johannesburg, it’s a similar picture.
Before the pandemic, there were over 138,000 Travel & Tourism jobs, but this number fell by 28,000 to just over 110,000 in 2020. A 10% rise in 2021 saw the number increase to more than 120,000.
WTTC is forecasting jobs to grow three times as fast in 2022 to reach more than 156,000 jobs – 11.5% more jobs than pre-pandemic levels.
The report also shows that the sector’s contribution to both cities will increase by more than $2.25BN over the next decade.
According to the global tourism body’s forecast, Cape Town’s Travel & Tourism sector is ex-pected to contribute over $3.3BN, while Johannesburg’s will provide a boost of almost $800MN by 2032 to reach just under $3BN annually.

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