Tourism in South Africa

Tourism in South Africa is one of the main foreign exchange earner in the country. The country offers both international and domestic tourism, since it has a wide variety of tourist attraction sites which include wild animals, landscapes, miscellaneous cultural heritage and vastly regarded wines. The above tourist attractions have really helped the country in being able to increase Gross Domestic price (GDP), due to the ever increasing number of tourists. South Africa also boasts the best national park in Africa, the best coastlines and beaches, which are: Kruger national park, KwaZulu-Natal and the Cape provinces in the west respectively (Hottola, 2009). Moreover, the country is well developed and it has good transport and communication networks which favour tourism activities. Urbanization is also another major factor in the country, since it has very major cities which are, Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.

According to a research conducted by World Travel and Tourism Council, tourism has contributed 102 billion South African Rands to the country’s GDP. The tourism industry also supports 10.3% of jobs in South Africa, with an estimated 1.2 million jobs in the tourism industry. The country, therefore fully depends on tourism since it is a major source of revenue. Majority of tourists in South Africa come from its neighbouring countries in the Southern region of Africa which contributes to 73% of tourists in the country. Domestic tourism in the country is also good and it contributes to 52% of the total revenue in the country (Keyser, 2009). Tourism has really helped in stabilizing the country’s economy which grows year after year due to the ever growing number of tourists in the country. Tourism has also bettered the living standards of the South Africans, particularly those who have been employed in the tourism industries.

South Africa has three major tourism destinations which are: Kruger national park, the Winelands and Robben Island.

Kruger National Park

The park, which was established in the year 1926, is one of the most visited national parks in South Africa. In the year 2010-2011, an estimated 1 429 904 visited the national park. The national park has a wide variety of animals which include the following: Elephants, lions, cheetahs, leopards, white rhinoceroses, kudus, blue wildebeests, impalas, hippopotamuses, hyenas and giraffes (Hottola, 2009). The national park covers an area of 19,485 kilometres squared, and it lies in Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces which are in the north-eastern side of South Africa. The wide variety of animals attracts tourists from different parts of the world who visit the park in order to see these animals.

The Winelands

This is among the oldest and the most beautiful areas designated for the production of wine areas in the country. The winelands has a series of valleys which are fertile as opposed to other parts of Cape Town.  Winelands is the second tourist attraction area from Cape Town, and it provides samples of many different wines in a both historical and wonderful scenic setting. Winelands was also the second region after Cape Town to be settled (Keyser, 2009). Its streets are lined with Dutch architectural designs making the area to look even more beautiful as compared to other areas. The vines provide a natural scenery making the place to look even more beautiful hence attracting most tourists.

Robben Island

            This is an island which is in the Table Bay, 6.9 km to the west of Bloubergstrand, Cape Town. The name, Robben Island, is Dutch and it stands for the seal island. The Island is 3.3 km long, and 1.9km wide and it covers an area of 5.07 square kilometres. The former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela was imprisoned there for I8 years during the apartheid system in South Africa (South africa, 2013). Three of the former prisons in Robben Island have become presidents and these are: Kgalema Motlanthe, Nelson Mandela and Jacob Zuma (Hottola, 2009). The Island has been mainly used for the isolation of political prisoners, and hence acts as a historical area. Most tourists visit the place in order to understand the historical events of the country. 

The main exchange rate of the South African rand (ZAR) is the Us Dollar, since both countries support each other in the tourism sectors.

In order for one to be ale to visit South Africa, he or she must meet the following requirements:

Must have a valid passport or a travel document.

Must have a valid Visa.

Must be able to pay for his or her expenses in the country (Keyser, 2009).

Must have a return ticket.

Must have taken yellow fever tests.

There are many travel companies which offer travel solutions in South Africa, and they include the following: Footprints in Africa, getaway Africa and Great North cultural tours.

Footprints in Africa.

The company offers good safari solutions, and advice to anyone who wishes to visit different national parks in South Africa (Hottola, 2009).

Getaways Africa

The company offers guided holidays safaris to different areas in the country. Getaway Company is very convenient as its tour guides offer tourist with the best tourism experience (Keyser, 2009).

Great North Cultural Tours

The company mainly offers travel solutions to the northern regions of the country, which includes Cape Town, and is therefore good for people visiting winelands, Robben Island and Kruger National park.

The main problem facing tourism in South Africa is poor transport connectivity. The country has very strict rules on the application of visas, and this makes it hard for international tourists to be able to visit the country. Most international tourists end up visiting other areas due to the strict rules associated with the application of visa (Hottola, 2009). The Chinese are some of the major tourists who visit the country, but due to the lack of a proper system of visa acquirement, they end up visiting other countries.

Reference

Hottola, P. (2009). Tourism strategies and local responses in Southern Africa. Wallingford, Oxfordshire, U.K: CABI.

Keyser, H. (2009). Developing tourism in South Africa: Towards competitive destinations. Cape Town: Oxford University Press.

South africa, 2013. (2013). Place of publication not identified: Oxford Business Group.