05 March 2017

Selling our great country, South Africa

Submitted by: Kirsten
Selling our great country, South Africa

The tourism industry in South Africa has taken a lot of hits, especially since the Apartheid era arrived. Through all of this, tourism in South Africa has grown and it's up to us to keep feeding South Africa's biggest asset, it's natural beauty, culture and people. Viva South Africa, Viva Tourism! Lets start at the beginning, Apartheid. It was the first real issue South Africa was facing in regards to tourism going down the drain.

Many countries were boycotting South Africa, affecting thousands of local businesses and putting a huge red sticker on our country that basically said: "Do not enter!". We survived, we made it to 1994, a glorious year for all South Africans.

Tourism gained some traction, but not long after 1994, the country was yet again avoided due to high crime rates and general violence taking place all over South Africa. Flights were also extremely expensive to any South African airport due to airlines cutting down on daily flights to South Africa. Our country received a rough estimate of less than 1 million arrivals at international airports. It was a devastating time for tourism in South Africa.

The year 2000, we made it. The world didn't end and tourism started picking up again with President Thabo Mbeki leading the country to a better tomorrow. Things were looking good and our tourist arrivals and revenue looked good, but it was nothing compared to other smaller countries that were on our level. We had a lot of catching up to do, South Africa should've been a major tourist attraction by now, but we took a big hit and recovery is extremely difficult after such a tremendous blow.

Enter 2010, the year we have all been waiting for, the Soccer World Cup. South Africa was blooming. We woke up to an incredibly beautiful morning and the sun was bright. People rejoiced and our revenue predictions were going off the charts. The year ended with a sense of relief and we seemed to be back on track to being the Mecca of tourist attractions. Today, at the end of 2016, looking forward to 2017. We have started a new project. Flight Factory. With one goal. Sell South Africa. Sell its natural beauty, sell its infinite cultural richness, sell its magnificent people.

We are here to "Make South Africa Great Again", one flight at a time. We believe in unity and South Africa is our unity. If we can all help our country reach it's full potential, we can create the brightest future for the next generation of South Africans. At the end of the day, South Africa, itself, will be the longest lasting "business" of our country. Let's sell it together!

Latest from