SATSA, the voice of inbound tourism has partnered with Joburg Tourism to launch the Welcome2Joburg Experience, a first-of-its-kind partnership linking Johannesburg’s destination marketing campaign directly to bookable tourism products, giving visitors a straightforward route from seeing the city promoted to actually booking a trip there.
Johannesburg’s tourism economy has shown resilience amid ongoing geopolitical tensions and a global economic downturn. According to S&P Global, visitor numbers to the city, drawn from domestic and international markets, grew from just over 4.5 million in 2024/25 to five million in 2025/26. That growth generated more than R106 billion in tourism spend last year, according to Joburg Tourism.
SATSA CEO David Frost describes Johannesburg as the true cultural heartbeat of South Africa, however, the city has been underrepresented in itineraries, despite offering a depth of culture, cuisine, art and history that rivals any city on the continent and even the world.
“Our tour operators want to book Johannesburg; they just need the itineraries and packages to do it,” said Frost, who notes that SATSA represents over 500 inbound tour operators through its membership, all of whom have already been through SATSA’s strict annual verification process, giving Joburg Tourism a ready-made, credible base of partners to build with. “Bringing our members together with Joburg Tourism to jointly build, package and market these experiences is genuinely pioneering, and it’s a model we should take to the rest of the country.”
Joburg Tourism echoed that ambition. Belu Mabandla, the organisation’s Executive Head for Destination Marketing and Events, said the partnership with SATSA marks a significant step in a long-standing effort to work directly with travel trade, shifting the needle from destination brand awareness to conversion.
“We’re grateful to have reached this stage, launching a partnership with the players who will help us bring the right deals to market and present the right persona of Johannesburg to the world,” said Mabandla.
From Campaign to Conversion
Welcome2Joburg Experience builds on Joburg Tourism’s established “Welcome to Joburg” campaign, which positions the city as an all-year-round, value-for-money destination for both business and leisure travellers, with a particular focus on encouraging visitors to fall in love with Joburg in the first 72 hours.
The partnership has four pillars:
· Market-ready offers: SATSA members packaging 72-hour, longer-stay and shorter-stay Johannesburg itineraries
· Consumer demand generation: activated through Joburg Tourism’s ongoing marketing campaigns
· Conversion via an Experience Hub: a consumer-facing, clickable booking platform connecting travellers directly to Johannesburg products
· Consumer insights: gathered to continually refine what’s on offer and how it’s marketed
Johannesburg attracted five million visitors last year, generating over R106 billion in tourism spend, according to Joburg Tourism figures. The bulk of those visits are currently driven by people visiting friends and relatives. This presents a significant opportunity to convert that segment into leisure tourism visitors.
A Call to Action for Tourism Businesses
SATSA is now inviting its members, and in time, Johannesburg-based tourism experience providers, to put their offerings forward for inclusion in the programme.
Phase 1 is open to SATSA members first, whose businesses have already passed SATSA’s strict annual verification process, giving Joburg Tourism a vetted, credible pool of operators to build the pipeline with from day one. Phase 2 will look at how to open the programme beyond SATSA’s membership.
· Destination management companies (DMCs) and tour operators: with a ready, bookable Johannesburg package can submit an Expression of Interest here.
· Experience providers: with a ready, bookable Johannesburg package across heritage, art, culture, gastronomy, accommodation, attractions, activities, food, guiding, transport or venues can submit an Expression of Interest here. (SATSA membership is not required for this track)
There is no cost to participate. Submitting an Expression of Interest is simply how SATSA and Joburg Tourism identify and match Johannesburg’s tourism offerings with the demand this campaign will drive.
“This is how we spread the love and start addressing the real problem of geographical spread in our tourism economy,” concludes Frost.
For more information, contact support@welcome2joburg.co.za.
