Tourists Travelling Back to South Africa’s Biggest Cities Says WTTC
Johannesburg tourism jobs to surpass 2019 levels - Cities Economic Impact Report analysed 82 cities around the world
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.
The report, researched in partnership with Oxford Economics, analysed 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.
But light is at the end of the tunnel. Over the last two years, since the border reopened, both cities have witnessed a significant recovery.
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 world-favourite destination and after more than two years of disruption, it’s great to see tourists heading back. Tourism provides a massive boost to both the economy and job creation.It is crucial that the national and local governments continue to recognise the importance of Travel & Tourism for the local and national economies, jobs, and businesses. Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO
Jobs on the rise
In 2019 there were more than 170,000 people employed by the Travel & Tourism sector in Cape Town. In 2020 this figure dropped to just over 117,000 (-32%). But in 2021, employ-ment grew by 8% to 127,000 jobs and is expected to have grown at a two and a half times that rate 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.
About WTTC
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) represents the global travel & tourism private sector. Members include 200 CEOs, Chairs and Presidents of the world's leading travel & tourism companies from all geographies covering all industries. For more than 30 years, WTTC has been committed to raising the awareness of governments and the public of the economic and social significance of the travel & tourism sector.
