S/Africa Tourism Minister planning to attract more Chinese visitors

By Mark Ogagan

South Africa’s Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille says her department will this week intensify efforts to attract more Chinese tourists to South Africa, in a bid to boost economic fortunes.

De Lille made the remarks at a glitzy event in Pretoria on Monday night, where Ambassador of China to South Africa, Chen Xiaodong hosted Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations, also knows as the Spring Festival, hosted in accordance with the lunar calendar.

The minister said she will be meeting Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi and representatives from the Presidency to present a roadmap on how South Africa can woo Chinese visitors.

“My department, South African Tourism and I are focused on welcoming more Chinese visitors to South Africa. I am meeting with the minister of home affairs and the Presidency’s project management office this week to see how to improve South Africa’s visa processing and enable more Chinese visitors to travel here,” said De Lille.

China’s outbound tourism market is fast recovering to the 2019 levels when over 93 million Chinese tourists travelled abroad.

South Africa has however missed out on this boon of Chinese tourists travelling to different parts of the world in the post-Covid-19 era.

“Last year, in the first six months, over 40 million Chinese tourists travelled to other countries, yet only 28,000 travelled to South Africa,” said De Lille.

“South Africa wants to welcome thousands more tourists to our national parks, cities, townships, and small towns to experience our culture, food, nature, and more. That is why we are partnering with Chinese tech firms like CTrip.com, Tencent and many more,” she said.

China is South Africa’s largest global trade partner. At the same time, South Africa is also China’s biggest trading partner on the African continent.

Last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping completed his fourth State Visit to South Africa and also attended the 15th BRICS Summit in Joburg.

During Xi’s State Visit, President Cyril Ramaphosa awarded him the Order of South Africa award.

This year, the Chinese New Year falls on February 10 and massive celebrations will last up to 16 days, with only the first seven days considered a public holiday.

The year 2024 has been marked as the Year of the Dragon, according to the Chinese zodiac, which features a 12-year cycle, with each year represented by a specific animal.