Chaos at SA Tourism

BELOW PRE-COVID LEVELS: IT'S SHOWING UP IN THE ARRIVALS FIGURES

- Ciaran Ryan

NO LAUGHING MATTER. The goverment agency 'receives a huge chunk of money to market SA' to the world 'but we are still not back to pre-Covid levels'. Picture: Supplied

(Supplied)

SA Tourism has lost another key executive - this time chief operating officer Darryl Erasmus whose resignation becomes effective on 13 February.

This follows a strong of resignations and dismissals which has left government's premier tourism marketing body rudderless, according to industry executives.

"There's no one steering the ship at SA Tourism [SAT]," said Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, CEO of the Tourism Business Council of SA (TBCSA).

"It receives a huge chunk of money to market SA to international markets, but we are still not back to pre-Covid levels in terms of overseas arrivals.

"The CEO of SA Tourism has been suspended, the chief operating officer and marketing officer have resigned, and the current board is there on [an] interim basis. It's in chaos.”

David Frost, CEO of the Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (Satsa), agreed: “We are now dealing with an organisation that is dysfunctional at best and in crisis at worst,” he said. “We collect the private sector levy which we hand over every year, but they've had a qualified audit since 2022, and we've held that money back since then.”

SA Tourism is the state-run agency responsible for marketing SA as a tourism destination. It is supported by private sector organisations such as TBCSA and Satsa.

On Tuesday, Minister of Tourism Patricia de Lille highlighted the role of tourism in creating jobs and supporting the economy, pointing to a 17.6% jump to 10.48 million in international arrivals over 2024 numbers.