Now in its second year, Visit Stellenbosch’s annual Tourism Economic Impact Study provides an evidence-based measure of tourism’s contribution to the local economy. The latest findings show that more than 1.35 million overnight visitors generated R13 billion for Stellenbosch in 2025 while supporting 48,007 direct, indirect and induced jobs across the municipality.

Every day, tourism contributes an estimated R35 million to Stellenbosch’s economy. Behind every visitor is a local story: jobs created, businesses supported, entrepreneurs empowered, and communities strengthened through a thriving visitor economy. These are the lives behind the numbers.

The latest Tourism Economic Impact Study, commissioned by Visit Stellenbosch and independently compiled by Futureneer Advisors, confirms that tourism remains one of Stellenbosch’s most important economic drivers and demonstrates how a shared destination strategy is delivering measurable value for residents, businesses and visitors alike.

The research shows that international overnight arrivals increased by 12% to 641,405 visitors, while domestic overnight tourism grew by an impressive 21% to 711,330 visitors. Together, these figures reinforce Stellenbosch’s position as one of South Africa’s leading tourism destinations and demonstrate the growing strength of a balanced, year-round visitor economy.

While direct tourism value added remained stable at R6.3 billion, the sector continued to generate significant economic value despite global economic uncertainty and increasingly cautious consumer spending. The results point to a destination that has moved beyond post-pandemic recovery and into a new phase of resilient, sustainable growth.

A destination strategy delivering measurable results

Tourism success does not happen by chance. It is the result of long-term planning, strategic investment and collaboration between Stellenbosch Municipality, Visit Stellenbosch, the tourism industry, local businesses and communities working towards a shared vision for the destination.

That strategy focuses on growing year-round demand, encouraging longer stays, expanding the geographic spread of visitors across the destination, supporting tourism businesses, promoting inclusive tourism experiences and ensuring that tourism growth benefits local communities.

As one of Stellenbosch Municipality’s two official Destination Management Organisations (DMOs), Visit Stellenbosch goes beyond destination marketing. The organisation grows demand, promotes year-round visitation, supports tourism businesses, builds strategic partnerships, invests in research and market intelligence, measures tourism’s economic contribution and brings stakeholders together to deliver long-term value for Stellenbosch.

The annual Tourism Economic Impact Study is a key part of this work. By measuring tourism’s direct, indirect and induced contribution to the economy, it informs decision-making, demonstrates return on investment, tracks tourism performance and supports long-term destination stewardship.

Tourism that benefits everyone

Annemie Liebenberg, CEO of Visit Stellenbosch, said the findings demonstrate far more than visitor growth:

“Tourism is one of Stellenbosch’s greatest opportunities to create lasting economic value. Every visitor supports local businesses, creates employment and contributes to stronger communities. That is why destination management matters. Our role is not simply to attract visitors, but to ensure tourism grows sustainably, benefits residents and leaves Stellenbosch stronger for future generations.

“These results show what is possible when research, partnership and long-term thinking come together behind a shared vision.”

A partnership driving destination success

Stellenbosch Mayor, Jeremy Fasser, welcomed the findings and acknowledged the collective effort that continues to position Stellenbosch as one of South Africa’s premier visitor destinations.

“These results demonstrate what can be achieved when Stellenbosch Municipality, Visit Stellenbosch, our tourism industry and local communities work together with a shared vision.

“The Municipality is proud to invest in and partner with Visit Stellenbosch to grow a visitor economy that creates employment, supports local businesses, attracts investment and enhances quality of life for our residents. Together, we are building a destination whose success benefits everyone.”

Setting the benchmark for destination management

The study reinforces Stellenbosch’s strategic importance within the Western Cape tourism economy, attracting approximately 40% of all international visitors to the province.

As destinations across South Africa compete for visitors and investment, Stellenbosch continues to demonstrate the value of collaboration, strategic planning and evidence-led destination management. By combining research, partnership and innovation, the destination is creating a resilient visitor economy that delivers benefits for residents, businesses and visitors alike.

2025 Highlights at a glance:

• R13 billion generated for the local economy

• 48,007 direct, indirect and induced jobs supported

• 1.35 million overnight visitors

• 641,405 international overnight visitors (12% growth)

• 711,330 domestic overnight visitors (21% growth)

• R35 million contributed to the economy every day

• Approximately 40% of the Western Cape’s international visitors choose Stellenbosch

Why we measure the value of tourism

The Value of Tourism is Visit Stellenbosch’s annual economic impact study and forms part of the organisation’s commitment to evidence-based destination management. Independently compiled by Futureneer Advisors using data from Statistics South Africa and South African Tourism, the study measures tourism’s direct, indirect and induced contribution to Stellenbosch’s economy, employment and visitor volumes.

By tracking tourism’s performance year after year, the study provides the insights needed to inform decision-making, guide destination development and demonstrate the value of investing in tourism.

The findings provide a roadmap for the future. Visit Stellenbosch will continue investing in destination marketing, destination development, research, industry support and collaborative partnerships that strengthen the visitor economy while protecting the unique character, cultural heritage and natural environment that make Stellenbosch one of the world’s most desirable destinations.

Great destinations do not happen by chance. They are built through partnership, guided by evidence and inspired by a shared vision.

-ENDS-

For media enquiries, additional information, or to arrange an interview with Annemie Liebenberg, please contact visitstellenbosch@bigambitions.co.za. 

About Visit Stellenbosch

Visit Stellenbosch is the official destination marketing organisation for Stellenbosch, dedicated to growing sustainable tourism, supporting the local visitor economy and showcasing the region as one of South Africa’s premier wine, food, culture and outdoor destinations.

Presented by Marcus Lee, CEO of China Travel Online and founder of the internationally recognised China Ready® Programme, the workshop forms part of a three-year development series running alongside WTM Africa from 2026 to 2028. Each annual session explores a different aspect of engaging the Chinese outbound market, providing standalone value for delegates joining the programme at any stage.

Taking place from 7–9 April 2027 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), WTM Africa 2027 will host Part 2: Marketing and Digital Promotion. This session will explore the digital platforms, consumer behaviours, and marketing strategies that influence Chinese outbound travel decisions, providing delegates with practical, actionable insights to strengthen their visibility and competitiveness in this high-value source market.

Why China readiness matters

“Chinese outbound travel continues to represent one of the greatest long-term growth opportunities for global tourism,” says Megan de Jager, Portfolio Director – Travel, Tourism & RX Africa Marketing. “The overwhelming response to the inaugural China Ready® Workshop demonstrated that African tourism businesses recognise the importance of preparing for this market. We are excited to welcome Marcus Lee back to WTM Africa 2027 to continue equipping delegates with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed.”

Stakeholders attending the China Ready® Workshop at WTM Africa 2027 will receive CPD accreditation, access to exclusive market intelligence and practical resources, and the opportunity to learn directly from one of the industry’s leading authorities on the Chinese outbound travel market.

What attendees can expect

The inaugural workshop at WTM Africa 2026 marked a significant milestone for the continent, with South Africa becoming the 55th country globally to introduce the China Ready® Programme. The fully booked session coincided with the launch of the inaugural China Ready Index® – Africa Rankings, a benchmarking system developed by the China Business Intelligence & Strategy Network (CBISN) to evaluate African destinations on their readiness to attract and serve Chinese travellers. As of 2026, Egypt ranks first in Africa, followed by Morocco, Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa.

Participants also received the China Outbound Travel Market – Africa Report 2025/2026, equipping them with practical market intelligence on emerging travel trends, traveller preferences, and commercial opportunities across the continent.

Building on the success of its inaugural year, the 2027 China Ready® Workshop promises fresh insights and the latest market intelligence for tourism stakeholders. All are welcome. Registration will open closer to the event, with further details to be announced on the WTM Africa website: www.wtm.com/africa/en-gb.html.

Importantly, getting delegates there is no longer the logistical question it once was. Proflight Zambia, the country’s largest airline, operates scheduled services connecting Johannesburg and Cape Town directly to both Lusaka and Livingstone, and has opened various new regional routes in the past few years, including to Maun and Windhoek, removing one of the historic objections to Zambia as a conference destination before the conversation even begins.

But to understand why Zambia’s MICE (Meetings Incentives Conferences Events) moment is happening now, you need to understand what’s happening across the continent…

The market making this possible

Africa’s MICE sector is in the middle of a growth cycle that is outpacing every other region globally. Valued at $16.6 billion in 2023, the market is projected to reach $65.6 billion by 2032, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 17%, according to Business Traveller. Furthermore, business tourism demand across the continent is up roughly 40%, and more than 48% of multinational companies operating in the region have increased their event-related spending.

The incentive travel segment is growing the fastest of all, at 17.2% CAGR, and this is where Zambia’s geography becomes a notable competitive asset. Rather than looking for another hotel ballroom, incentive buyers are looking for transformative experiences that a top-performing sales team will still be talking about two years later. Victoria Falls, the Zambezi River, South Luangwa National Park, Lower Zambezi National Park – these are not consolation prizes for delegates who couldn’t get a room in Cape Town. They are, increasingly, the point.

But a booming market does not distribute itself evenly, and the race to capture Africa’s MICE windfall is already well underway.

The competitive landscape is shifting

For years, Africa’s MICE map has been drawn around a small number of established centres. South Africa leads the continent with 115 international association meetings recorded in ICCA’s Globewatch 2025 data, with Cape Town, Marrakech, and Kigali the only African cities to regularly feature in the global top 100 MICE destinations.

But the race for the next tier of African MICE destinations is wide open. Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Accra, and Lusaka are all being actively positioned. South Africa’s National Convention Bureau is pushing planners beyond Cape Town; Johannesburg, Durban, Stellenbosch, and Tshwane are all building their pipelines.

The distribution of Africa’s MICE boom is not yet settled. Destinations that move now, with the right infrastructure and the right connectivity, will capture disproportionate share. Those that wait will find the ground already taken.

Zambia has read the room, and it is building accordingly.

Zambia is building

The Livingstone/Victoria Falls corridor is being actively repositioned as a year-round business events destination – a deliberate diversification away from seasonal safari dependency that reflects both commercial pragmatism and growing international demand. The Zambia Tourism Expo, ZATEX 2026, ran in June at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka, drawing international buyers and trade partners to assess the country’s offer firsthand.

Behind the scenes, the professionalisation of Zambia’s hospitality sector is accelerating. The recent launch of a Hotel Managers Registration Council demonstrates that the country is aligning its standards with what international MICE organisers require before they will commit a conference bid.

The strategic opportunity now is to convert Zambia’s leisure familiarity into conference and incentive bookings. The destination sell is largely done. What has historically been missing is the infrastructure confidence – the certainty that delegates can get there reliably. 

Connectivity is the unlock

MICE destinations are made or broken by airlift. A destination can have world-class venues, compelling experiences, and competitive pricing, and still lose conference bids because planners can’t guarantee their delegates a reliable route in and out.

“Regional carriers like Proflight Zambia now operate scheduled services connecting Johannesburg and Cape Town directly to both Lusaka and Livingstone, with routes to Windhoek and Maun further extending Zambia’s regional connectivity. For a South African corporate travel manager who last assessed Zambia’s accessibility several years ago, the current network would look significantly different to the one they remember,” says Captain Josias Walubita, Proflight Zambia’s Director of Flight Operations.

“Air access is one of the most powerful enablers of tourism and business events growth,” he added – a position that aligns with the broader direction of Zambia’s Airlift Zambia Initiative, a strategic programme aimed at strengthening connectivity and attracting new international carriers to the country.

The initiative’s ambitions received significant external validation in June, with the announcement that Zambia will host AviaDev Africa 2027 – the continent’s leading air service development conference – with Zambia Airports Corporation confirmed as official host partner. Previous editions have been held in Windhoek, Zanzibar, and Botswana. Zambia’s selection reflects a growing consensus among airlines and aviation decision-makers that the country’s connectivity story is one worth investing in.

The window is now

Africa’s MICE boom will not wait. The destinations capturing share in 2026 and 2027 are the ones that will define the continent’s business events landscape for the decade that follows.

“Zambia has the venues, the experiences, the government backing, and, increasingly, the air access to compete seriously for that share,” concludes Walubita.

The question for South African corporates and conference planners is simple: how much longer will you keep booking the same rooms in the same cities, when one of Africa’s most extraordinary destinations is now reliably within reach?

Zambia is ready, and the flights are there. The only thing missing is your delegates.

Once upon a time, booking a holiday meant heading to your local travel agency, a manila folder of handwritten tickets to carry home and a visit to the bank to order your travellers cheques. Today, travellers can book an entire holiday from the palm of their hand.

As ASATA celebrates its 70th anniversary, they’re opening their archives and inviting us to revisit the milestones that modernised the industry – and changed how South Africans travel. 

1. 1956: Travel agencies become part of the journey

In 1956, ASATA was established as the first formal body to represent South African travel agents and elected Jim Finlay as its first chairman. At the time, travel agencies were essential to planning a trip, handling everything from tickets and passports to visas and even foreign currency. There was no such thing as booking it all yourself.

2. 1959–1971: The world gets easier to reach

The arrival of the first American Express plastic charge card in 1959 transformed international travel. Instead of carrying cash or travellers cheques, travellers could pay for flights, accommodation and everyday expenses with a single card. The arrival of the Boeing 747 in 1970 made long-haul travel more accessible than ever before, and in 1971, SAA rounded things off with SAAFARI, its very own automated reservations system – basically the ancestor of every booking app on your smartphone today.

3. 1972: A genuine world-first

In 1972, just one year after Japan pioneered IATA’s Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP), South Africa became the second country in the world to adopt it. The same year, ASATA elected its first president, John Bing, and successfully negotiated an increase in domestic airline commission from 5% to 7%.

*BSP is the standardised system that keeps ticket sales, reporting and payments between agents and airlines from descending into chaos.

4. 1978–1985: Regulation, insurance and the ticketing shake-up

Between the late 1970s and early 1980s, ASATA really rolled up its sleeves. The association helped draft the bill that became the Travel Agent and Travel Agencies Act (1983) and teamed up with SAA to introduce automatic ticket printing. It also negotiated an exclusive traveller insurance (Travelsure) and secured a 15-day BSP settlement period, modernising how travel agencies operated behind the scenes.

5. 1992–1994: Ethics and deregulation

During this timeframe, ASATA introduced its first Code of Conduct, reinforcing ethical standards across the industry. Just two years later, the Tourism Bill repealed the Travel Agent and Travel Agencies Act, ushering in a new era of competition and deregulation.

6. 1993–1998: A changing landscape

The repeal of marital power meant married women could finally open bank accounts, obtain credit cards, sign contracts and pay for travel independently without their husband’s consent. In 1998, ASATA elected its first Black president, Kananelo Makhetha, reflecting the transformation of both the association and South Africa itself.

7. 2001: Flying would never feel the same again

Before 9/11, passengers could arrive at the airport shortly before departure and loved ones could accompany them to the boarding gate. Then everything changed. Security tightened everywhere, and “arrive three hours early” became gospel.

8. The 2000s: Reinvention begins

During this time, smartphones, social media and online booking platforms completely transformed how people researched, booked and shared their travels. In 2005, ASATA elected its first woman president, Amanda Harrod, and as airline commissions shrank, professional service fees models filled the gap.

In 2010, the FIFA World Cup showcased South Africa to billions of people across the globe as a world-class tourism destination, proving that this country knows how to host a good party.

Throughout the 2010s, ASATA engaged government on unabridged birth certificates for minors, worked with National Treasury on cost containment measures, secured legal guardrails for pricing transparency, and helped determine the VAT treatment of international tickets through a favourable Constitutional Court outcome in 2020.

9. 2020: When travel stopped

COVID-19 became the greatest crisis the travel industry had ever faced. Borders closed, airlines grounded fleets and refunds became a lifeline for travellers. ASATA worked tirelessly to support members through SAA’s business rescue (2019-2022) and advocate for border reopening.

10. 2023 and beyond: Buckle up for the next chapter

Today, AI, digital borders and new traveller expectations are reshaping travel once again. Yet one thing has remained remarkably consistent: When flights are cancelled, visas become complicated or plans fall apart, people still turn to trusted travel professionals for guidance.

“That belief has guided ASATA since 1956,” says ASATA CEO, Otto de Vries. “Seventy years later, it remains at the heart of South African travel. In all that time, credible expertise never went out of fashion, and I suspect it never will.”

Behind that confidence is a sustained programme of industrial development, backed by public infrastructure investment, special economic zone incentives and private capital. The Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone has R252 billion in pipeline investment across 23 investors, according to the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition. Among the flagship developments is Nyanza Light Metals’ R15 billion titanium dioxide pigment plant. Construction is already under way and is expected to create around 3,000 jobs before employing up to 850 people permanently. Richards Bay is also positioning itself as an energy hub, with a liquefied natural gas import terminal, new power stations and supporting infrastructure representing almost R100 billion in additional investment.

Projects on this scale bring a steady stream of engineers, contractors, consultants, financiers and government officials into the city, some for a few days, others returning repeatedly as work progresses. According to André de Klerk, General Manager of BON Hotel Waterfront Richards Bay, this is translating into increasingly consistent business travel demand.

“We don’t have a high and low season like a typical leisure destination,” he says. “Our business follows industrial activity. Occupancy rises when a plant shuts down for maintenance, a delegation is in town, or a major project reaches a milestone. When that activity slows, so do we. Right now, we’re in one of our busier periods and we have been for some time.”

That level of demand has taken years to rebuild. Richards Bay’s hospitality sector was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, and just as recovery began, the July 2021 unrest in KwaZulu-Natal dealt another blow. De Klerk says the hotel had to rebuild its room rates from a much lower base, with several years spent simply recovering lost ground before new investment started driving demand rather than just restoring it.

“There have already been weeks where you couldn’t find a room in this town because two or three projects needed people here at the same time,” he says. “That didn’t used to happen.”

De Klerk emphasised the hotel’s booking window reflects the same industrial rhythm. During busy periods, guests typically book around a week in advance. At quieter times, bookings are made just four days before arrival, tied to project schedules or maintenance shutdowns.

The mix of guests checking in is changing alongside the volume. “The executive flying up from Johannesburg for a two-day meeting is only part of the picture now,” De Klerk says. “We’re welcoming metallurgical engineers overseeing technology transfer, project finance teams from Johannesburg and Nairobi, government delegations, environmental consultants, construction managers and representatives from development finance institutions. Some are here for a few days. Others stay for the duration of a project, with contracts that can run for several months.”

The hotel’s guests arrive from Europe, Africa, Asia and North America, largely to support engineering, mining, logistics and infrastructure projects, while domestic business travellers provide a reliable year-round base. De Klerk says repeat business is the clearest sign of that consistency, with companies returning on standing accounts for maintenance work, site visits and ongoing projects.

BON Hotels Group CEO Guy Stehlik says Richards Bay stands out against the other secondary cities where the company operates, across South Africa and West Africa. “Corporate demand is rarely the issue in these secondary cities. The infrastructure around it usually is,” he says. “Failing infrastructure is the constraint we run into most often outside the metros. Richards Bay is the exception. Given the scale of investment going into the IDZ, it’s no surprise it works as well as it does. If anything, it’s the market the rest of these cities could  be measured against.”

BON Hotel Waterfront Richards Bay has refurbished its guest rooms, public areas, restaurant and conferencing facilities to keep pace with demand. Its largest venue seats around 120 delegates, with most bookings coming from technical workshops, project briefings and training sessions.

Much of the investment pipeline has yet to move from planning into delivery. Stehlik believes the opportunities will extend well beyond the industrial sector. “Richards Bay has always had the industrial base. What’s changing is the consistency of business travel around it. As more investment moves from planning into delivery, we’ll see more people travelling to the city, staying longer and returning more often. That creates the kind of demand that gives airlines, hotels and the wider visitor economy the confidence to invest.”

Rob Hetem remembers the moment he understood why. At a trade show in 2006, he watched representatives of a tourism business sitting inside their exhibition stand, eating lunch, while international buyers streamed past. “No one had explained how a trade show works,” recalls Hetem, who has spent more than two decades working in tourism development and transformation. “No one had shown them how to price for intermediaries, how to approach buyers or what buyers look for when assessing risk.”

When exhibitors went home without contracts, the usual conclusion was that the businesses weren’t ready for international markets. Hetem saw it differently. The businesses hadn’t failed. The model had put them in the room without equipping them to compete once they got there.

Those early lessons shaped a different approach. SATSA CEO David Frost, COO Hannelie du Toit and Rob Hetem brought their combined development, industry and sales experience together to build a model that prepares businesses properly before pushing them towards market access.

As Hetem explains, the journey starts with the less glamorous foundations: compliance, costing, pricing, packaging and distribution, with coaching and mentoring woven through each stage. Buyers only enter the picture once a business has the commercial tools and confidence to turn an introduction into something lasting.

Building businesses that can build others

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (EDTEA) Tour Operator Development Programme shows how the approach has evolved. Delivered by SATSA with Hetem leading it, the Tour Operator Project supported more than 70 small tourism businesses over four years. The fifth year added an important next step.

Working with the KwaZulu-Natal Tourism and Film Authority (KZN TAFA), the programme created a pathway for its strongest participants to move from business development into focused market access. KZN TAFA selected ten businesses with the potential to become commercial anchors in their regions, chosen not just for their own growth prospects but for the opportunities they could open up for others.

A capable local tour operator doesn’t need to sell a single accommodation establishment or experience. It can combine a lodge stay in St Lucia with a hiking experience in Underberg, a village homestay, a local transport provider and a small safari business.

To an international buyer, that’s one itinerary, one relationship and one contract instead of five. The lead operator handles pricing, compliance and quality standards, which lowers the buyer’s risk and gives smaller businesses access to markets they’d struggle to reach alone. One strong business becomes the commercial doorway for an entire network of local suppliers.

A model designed to multiply

“Our goal was to build ten reliable commercial anchors that could pull the rest of the ecosystem with them,” Hetem explains. He calls it “village alignment”: government provides the enabling investment, an NPO like SATSA coordinates the programme, experienced tourism businesses share what they know, and developing businesses grow into increasingly commercial roles.

Each participant contributes something different. The value is in how the pieces fit together. Rather than supporting businesses in isolation, the model builds a pipeline that keeps knowledge, opportunity and market access moving long after a specific programme ends.

That thinking is now reaching beyond South Africa’s borders. Ubuntu Travel Connexions, a Southern African tour operator turned marketer now based in Europe, has partnered with SATSA to launch the Ubuntu Incubator Programme. For 12 months, Charmaine Wardenberg’s Ubuntu will represent three trade-ready SMEs from the KwaZulu-Natal programme in the German market, at no cost to the businesses.

For the South African operators, it’s representation in a market they couldn’t easily enter alone. For Ubuntu, it’s a pipeline of tourism businesses that have already done the work to become compliant, reliable and ready to sell.

“It isn’t a new concept,” says Hetem. “We draw from the ideals of Ubuntu.” What’s different is applying that philosophy deliberately to commercial development, where success is measured not only by whether a business grows, but by how many others it brings into the tourism economy with it.

The same jointly developed approach shaped SATSA’s Desk to Desert initiative in the Northern Cape. The virtual familiarisation programme takes operators through compliance, pricing, distribution and marketing before they meet buyers, so they understand not just what a destination offers, but how to package and sell it.

From mentees to mentors

The clearest sign a development model is working may be what happens after the formal programme ends. Many participants go on to mentor other entrepreneurs, passing on the knowledge, connections and experience they once received themselves.

Thabo Modise started out selling T-shirts on Vilakazi Street before building Toura Travel Therapy. Today, known as “Thabo the Tourist,” he speaks at industry conferences, introduces visitors to Soweto’s art scene and creates opportunities for emerging artists.

Semadi Manganye and Paul Maluleke turned community guiding into GATHA, the Greater Alexandra Tourism and Heritage Association, which connects local tourism businesses while its greening projects supply fresh produce to restaurants in Sandton.

Thabo and GATHA aren’t just good news stories. Development that stops at keeping one entrepreneur afloat is only doing half the job.

The same principle runs through SATSA’s wider development work. In one initiative, 56 senior tourism professionals volunteered more than 1,000 years of combined industry experience to mentor 44 small tourism businesses over a year. Their focus was the practical commercial decisions that determine whether a business survives: pricing correctly, protecting margins, managing risk, and knowing when to walk away from an opportunity that isn’t worth it.

“These are results we’re proud of because they show that we now have development models that work,” says Du Toit. But she says success cannot be measured by business support alone. By the end of 2025, overseas arrivals had recovered to just 92% of pre-pandemic levels, according to Statistics South Africa. In her view, even the strongest enterprise development programme can only take businesses so far if the market itself is not expanding. “Readiness is only one side of the equation. We need to work just as deliberately on demand if the businesses we have developed are going to grow and remain sustainable.”

Ends

Issued by: Big Ambitions
Contact: Brenda Walters

Email: satsa@bigambitions.co.za

Tel. +27 73 061 3114

About SATSA

SATSA is the voice of inbound tourism in Southern Africa, representing over 1,100 quality assured members across the tourism value chain. As a trusted mark of credibility, SATSA-member businesses are vetted annually with stringent financial checks and adhere to a strict Code of Conduct, ensuring high ethical and operational standards. SATSA continually works to promote responsible tourism and protect travellers from fraudulent activity within the industry. https://www.satsa.com/

Instead, Corporate Traveller’s data points to something more interesting: a marked increase in trip duration. The insights form part of Corporate Traveller’s latest report: The smarter business travel guide for finance leaders.

As Juliette Da Silva, CFO of Flight Centre Travel Group South Africa explains, in 2024, the average business trip length was 3.21 days. In 2025 it jumped to 5.31 days – a 65% increase year-on-year.

“Companies are batching their meetings,” says Da Silva. “Travellers are visiting multiple stakeholders and combining market visits that would previously have been split into three separate trips. If you’re going to incur the cost and the traveller disruption of getting on a plane, you want to maximise the return on that journey.”

It’s also called trip stacking and Herman Heunes, General Manager of Corporate Traveller South Africa, sees the shift play out in booking patterns every day.

“The trips we’re booking in 2026 look nothing like the trips we were booking in 2023,” he says. “Clients are coming to us with bigger, more complex itineraries – multi-city, multi-stakeholder, often spanning a week or more. What used to be three separate Johannesburg-to-Cape Town hops for three different meetings has become one trip that does all three plus a client dinner and a team workshop on the way through.”

That shift has changed how Corporate Traveller’s client conversations unfold, Heunes adds.

“Five years ago, a lot of our cost conversations were around securing the best airfare. Now they’re about trip design: how you sequence meetings, where you base yourself, which hotel is actually closest to your three client sites rather than the one with the cheapest headline rate. Those decisions often save more money than a fare negotiation ever would.”

The behavioural shift is healthy for both ROI and traveller wellness, but it’s shifting where budget pressure shows up.

“Longer trips mean more hotel nights,” says Da Silva. “And South African hotel rates have been climbing steadily over the last three years – from an average room night of R1,050 in 2023 to R1,301 in 2025. So, while companies are getting better value per trip, they also need to be watching accommodation spend much more closely than they used to.”

Similarly, average international rates have climbed from R2,424 in 2023 to R2,877 in 2025. For a finance leader whose travel programme is still measured primarily on airfare savings, that’s a blind spot worth closing.

Both Da Silva and Heunes agree that travel policies need to catch up with traveller behaviour.

“The longer-trip, higher-ROI pattern should be baked into policy, not treated as an exception,” Heunes says. “If batching meetings is the new normal, your policy should actively encourage it. That means flexibility on minimum stay duration, smart advance-purchase requirements, and preferred supplier relationships that reward the kind of multi-night bookings your travellers are now making.”

Put simply, companies can save money in a number of ways: booking in advance (and as Da Silva notes, advance booking windows are already lengthening, up to 17.9 days in 2025), leveraging loyalty programmes, and exploring alternate accommodation options including guesthouses. Geographic clustering – combining multiple close destinations into a single trip – cuts airfare costs, while negotiating midweek rates lowers accommodation spend.

Da Silva frames it as a broader mindset shift.

“South African companies aren’t travelling less because business travel matters less,” Da Silva says. “The value of business travel is not in question. Instead, they’re travelling differently, stretching the return on every journey and tightening the discipline around when and how trips get booked. In today’s economic environment you have to make sure every rand counts. The companies doing this well are treating travel less as a line-item cost and more as a managed investment – and using current conditions as an opportunity to reset policies, renegotiate supplier agreements, and build programmes that flex with market volatility.”

For a closer look at the data – and a practical framework for managing travel spend in volatile conditions – download Corporate Traveller’s latest report here.

-ENDS–

MEDIA CONTACT

For more information about Corporate Traveller, or to interview Corporate Traveller South Africa GM Herman Heunes, call Sonnette Fourie on 081 072 2869 or email sonnette@bigambitions.co.za.    

About Corporate Traveller

Corporate Traveller is a division of the Flight Centre Travel Group, dedicated to saving businesses across Southern Africa time and money. Corporate Traveller has the benefit of being part of the world’s third-largest travel retailer, leveraging its global negotiating strength. It has access to over 50 of the world’s leading airlines and deals with more than 100 000 hotels around the world to guarantee savings for clients. Corporate Traveller provides clear, consolidated reporting of all its clients’ travel activities, helping them to control travel spend and identify opportunities to save costs.

Issued by:

Big Ambitions

Sonnette Fourie

sonnette@bigambitions.co.za

+27 81 072 2869

2026 is not the year to leave this important decision that late.

Three forces are converging to make this December the most competitive South African holiday season on record, and understanding all three is the difference between a December holiday that works and one that costs significantly more than it should.

Force #1: The fuel crisis is removing seats from the market

December’s capacity picture is tighter than it appears. While Gulf carriers have largely restored their networks (Emirates has confirmed it has restored 96% of its global capacity, and Qatar Airways is targeting 150+ destinations from mid-June), the fuel crisis is driving a separate and significant wave of capacity reduction across the broader industry.

Airlines have cut 13,000 flights globally in May alone, removing nearly two million seats from the market according to Cirium. Lufthansa has announced 20,000 flight cancellations through October, Spirit Airlines has ceased operations entirely, and Air France, KLM, Air Canada, Delta, and SAS have all trimmed their summer schedules. The reason in every case is the same: jet fuel has more than doubled in price since the conflict began, making routes that were previously profitable no longer viable.

December is South Africa’s most demand-intensive travel month. It’s also the month into which a portion of disrupted June and July bookings have been rerouted as some nervous travellers adjust their plans. The combination of compressed supply from fuel-driven flight cancellations and elevated demand creates exactly the pricing pressure that makes early booking essential.

“December availability is filling faster than usual this year. The travellers who act now will be accessing a meaningfully different market from those who wait until spring to book,” says Antoinette Turner, General Manager at Flight Centre South Africa.

Force #2: Fuel costs are embedded – and not coming down quickly

As mentioned, jet fuel prices have increased from approximately $831 per tonne in late February to a high of $1,838 by early April. The Gulf region normally accounts for approximately half of Europe’s jet fuel imports, but that supply chain has not recovered to pre-conflict levels and, according to industry experts, will not do so quickly even if the Strait of Hormuz fully reopens.

The fuel arriving at South African airports today was purchased at higher prices weeks ago. South Africa’s dependence on imported fuel, supply chain lags, and the domestic refinery constraints that have been a structural feature of the local market since 2021 all mean that global oil price movements take time to filter through to local pump prices, and longer still to affect airline fare structures.

“Fuel surcharges are dynamic,” explains Turner. “They’re recalculated and reapplied as fuel costs shift. South African travellers booking December today are locking in today’s surcharge level, while the travellers who wait until spring to think about Christmas are booking at whatever surcharge level applies then – and the direction of travel, in the absence of a full and sustained resolution to the conflict, is upward.”

Furthermore, a 25 basis point interest rate hike was announced at the MPC meeting on 28 May, adding further pressure to household travel budgets, and in April, the rand was 3.5% weaker against the dollar than pre-war levels. In short, the financial environment for South African travellers is not improving in the short term, so the argument for locking in December travel costs now – at current levels, with current flexibility policies – has never been more concrete.

Force #3: South Africans already know this – they just need to act on it

South African travel intenders are the most advance-booking market in the world. 96% actively adapt their travel plans to make travel more affordable, the highest of any market globally, according to Flight Centre’s global PR report. 48% cite booking flights and accommodation well in advance as their primary affordability strategy (again the highest globally) and 46% cite travelling outside peak season.

Rather than abstract preferences, these are the specific behaviours of a market that understands, better than any other, that timing is the most powerful lever available to the price-conscious traveller.

The December saving most South Africans are leaving on the table

Emirates and Qatar Airways have returned to South African routes with competitive fares and genuine flexibility built into new bookings. Both carriers are currently offering complimentary date change options – a direct acknowledgment of the current environment and a meaningful reduction in the risk of committing to December travel today.

On several key routes, Gulf carrier pricing is currently meaningfully below non-Gulf alternatives. The gap on certain routes exceeds 60%. For a December booking, where base fares are already elevated by seasonal demand, that gap compounds into a material saving per person. A family of four booking December flights to Phuket, Singapore, or London via a Gulf carrier versus a non-Gulf alternative could be saving tens of thousands of rands on the fare alone.

Book early. Book smart.

The December holiday that most South Africans are planning to sort out in a few months’ time is available now, at a better price, with better availability, and with the flexibility to adapt if anything changes between now and then.

“The travellers who act on this today will be the ones who look back on December 2026 as the holiday that delivered everything they hoped for – without breaking the bank,” Turner concludes.

JOHANNESBURG – You’re at the airport. Business class ticket in hand, you head toward the lounge only to be turned away at the door. Or your meeting moves and you try to change your flight, and discover the original ticket is non-refundable. Or you arrive at check-in with two bags, as you’ve grown accustomed to in business class, and learn you’re only entitled to one.

It’s the reality of “unbundling”: the practice of separating a standard airline ticket into its individual components. As an example, business class used to mean something fairly consistent. A lie-flat seat on long haul. Lounge access. Two bags. The ability to change your flight if the world intervened. You paid a significant premium for it, but you knew what you were getting. Those days are over.

According to Amadeus, the shift began in 2019, when Emirates introduced its special business class ticket – a stripped-down product that retained all the onboard comforts you expect (lie-flat seat, an elevated restaurant-style dining experience and top-tier entertainment system  ) but removed ancillaries like lounge access, seat selection and chauffeur services. It was a proof of concept: passengers would accept a reduced overall experience, at a reduced cost, if the seat itself remained premium.

Other airlines soon followed, with the likes of Qatar and KLM also introducing business class “lite” options. Come 2026? Tiered business class structures are fairly standard across the industry. The seat is the same. The cabin is the same. The ticket is not.

The three things most likely to disappear

Guaranteed lounge access is usually the first casualty. United’s unbundled “Base Polaris” fare includes access to a United Club lounge – not a Polaris Lounge, with its premium dining and spa facilities. Emirates’ base fare excludes complimentary airport lounge access. But as Mummy Mafojane, GM at FCM South Africa explains, for many travellers, particularly those on long-haul journeys with onward connections, the lounge is not an optional extra – it is a significant part of what they paid for.

“It’s very different for leisure travellers and business travellers,” says Mafojane. “Leisure travellers are often happy to pick and choose their perks. But business travellers rely on lounge access to work, decompress and even shower. No access can be an unwelcome surprise.”

Flexibility is the second to go. Base-tier business class tickets are frequently non-refundable and non-changeable – conditions that would once have been unthinkable at this price point.

“This is a particularly important consideration for travel bookers and travel programme managers,” says Mafojane. “2026 has already delivered a masterclass in travel disruption – at this point, locking yourself into a rigid, non-refundable ticket isn’t a saving; it’s a liability.”

Baggage is next. Finnair’s “light” business class fare excludes checked baggage unless the passenger holds elite Oneworld or Finnair Plus status. ZIPAIR, the Japanese low-cost long-haul carrier, goes furthest of all: its lie-flat business class seat includes nothing beyond the seat itself – no baggage, no meal, no seat selection. Everything is purchased separately.

The problem isn’t the product, it’s the presentation

ZIPAIR is actually a useful reference point. A lie-flat seat with each additional service priced individually and transparently, is a coherent offering. Travellers know what they’re getting. The more significant problem arises when legacy carriers sell something structurally similar, stripped of lounge access, flexibility and baggage, while marketing it under the same business class branding that has historically implied a comprehensive end-to-end experience.

For corporate travel programmes, the consequences extend well beyond a disgruntled traveller. A non-changeable ticket reissued during disruption, a bag fee at the counter, or a stranded employee with no flexibility and no recourse represents a programme failure, not just a personal inconvenience. Base fares also typically earn fewer frequent flyer miles and accrue less toward elite status – meaning the apparent saving at the point of booking may cost considerably more when the full picture is considered.

The corporate travel blind spot

For business travellers booked through a corporate travel management system, the risk is compounded. Many company travel policies were written when business class was a single, standardised product. They haven’t yet been updated to account for fare tiers within business class, meaning an employee may be booked on a base fare and arrive expecting the full experience. Travel managers, Mafojane explains, are increasingly having to specify not just the cabin class, but the fare tier, in their booking policies.

How to check before you commit

The fare tier name is your first signal. Base, Basic, Saver, or Light anywhere in the fare description is a warning to look further. Don’t rely on the airline’s general business class page, always check the specific fare conditions attached to the ticket you’re about to buy.

Confirm lounge access explicitly. Confirm baggage allowance in the booking summary, not the marketing overview. Check whether the ticket is changeable and refundable; if it is neither, you are holding something that functions more like an economy saver fare than a traditional business class ticket, regardless of what seat you’re sitting in.

“Obviously, travellers love a lie-flat seat, and all the space and comfort business class delivers,” says Mafojane. “But flexibility trumps all when it comes to a well-functioning travel programme.”

In other words, check the Ts&Cs carefully – and compare a premium economy fare with a ‘lite’ business class fare and decide which makes more sense on the day. If you hold elite frequent flyer status, check whether it restores any stripped benefits and be very mindful of which tiers you book.

What this actually means

None of this makes the tiered model inherently dishonest. For a leisure traveller with fixed plans, carry-on luggage only, and no interest in airport lounges, a base business class fare may represent genuine value – a lie-flat seat at a significantly lower price. The issue is assumption: the assumption that business class still has a fixed, reliable definition.

It doesn’t. And in a managed travel programme, that ambiguity has a cost. A traveller turned away from a lounge, stuck on a non-recoverable ticket, or charged for a bag at the airport is an irritation at best and a significant unplanned expense at worst. Knowing which tier a ticket sits in, and what that means in practice, is now a fundamental part of the booking process, not an afterthought. And the onus sits squarely with the booker or travel manager.

**ends**

For more information about FCM Travel call Sonnette Fourie on 081 072 2869 or email sonnette@bigambitions.co.za.

About FCM Travel:

FCM Travel, the flagship corporate travel brand at Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG), is the business travel partner of choice for large national, multinational and global corporations. We are an award-winning global corporate travel management company ranking as one of the top five by size around the world. We operate a global network which spans more than 100 countries, employing over 6000 people.

FCM are transforming the business of travel through our empowered and accountable people who deliver 24/7 service and are available either online or offline. Leveraging FCM’s negotiating strength and supplier relationships in conjunction with our tailored business travel programs, our expertise delivers more for our clients where it matters most to them.

Visit us at www.fcmtravel.co.za

Issued by: Big Ambitions

Contact: Sonnette Fourie

Tel: +27 81 072 2869

Email: sonnette@bigambitions.co.za

South Africa’s hospitality sector is facing a deepening frontline staff crisis, one that operators say has been building since 2019 and can no longer be deferred. At its heart is a challenge as simple as it is difficult to solve: many of today’s hotel workers have never been a guest in the type of property where they work.

The intuitive service knowledge that previous generations brought to the job through lived experience – knowing what good feels like, what attentive looks like, what a properly set table communicates – can no longer be assumed. It has to be taught, from scratch, often in formats that standard training content does not reach.

It was one of several hard truths that senior operators from Accor, Radisson, Capital Hotels, Southern Sun, City Lodge, Minor Hotels, and the Saxon put on the table together at the inaugural Frontline Workforce Roundtable Series, held at the Saxon Hotel, Villas & Spa in Johannesburg on 13 May. The session was convened by hospitality learning and development company FUEL in partnership with FEDHASA Inland and addressed a conversation the industry had been avoiding for years.

“This is a forum that has been lacking from a FEDHASA perspective for years,” said Gustav Pieterse, General Manager of the Saxon Hotel and FEDHASA Inland Chairperson, who attended the session. “It is critical, not just for the federation, but for the industry as a whole.”

The workforce challenge

The roundtable identified several compounding pressures that operators say have been building since 2019.

The changed labour pool was among the most critical issues addressed. Beyond the experience gap, operators flagged that a matric certificate can no longer be assumed to indicate functional literacy, meaning standard training content is frequently pitched above the level the learner can absorb. The training happens. The knowledge does not land. Standards drift as a result.

Training and L&D budgets have absorbed a disproportionate share of industry cost cuts across the same period. The middle management layer lost during Covid-19 has not recovered, leaving remaining managers to carry functions that once belonged to multiple colleagues, significantly reducing the number of internal voices making the case for staff investment.

“The bar for ‘good enough’ has been moving,” Pieterse said. “Not because anyone decided that was acceptable, but because the day-to-day pressure to keep operations running made it easy to defer the harder work of developing people properly. The room was clear: that trajectory is not sustainable.”

What operators say is working

Operators shared solutions they reported as producing measurable results in their own properties.

Hiring through existing employee networks has proven one of the most reliable retention tools. When a staff member refers a candidate, they carry personal accountability for that person’s success, an effect one participant described as “a bit of indirect blackmail, but it works.”

Structured multi-year progression pathways – from Youth Employment Service (YES) placements through internship to permanent employment, with each stage visible to the staff member upfront – give people a reason to stay. Those who can see where they are going are far less likely to leave for a marginal pay increase elsewhere.

Cross-skilling across departments, widely adopted as a Covid necessity, has become a talent identification tool. Several operators described staff whose potential only became visible once they moved across the property. In one case, a learner who independently completed optional engineering content in her own time surfaced a career direction her manager had never identified.

The room also challenged generic onboarding, with operators increasingly building differentiated induction journeys for different entrant types rather than running all new hires through the same programme.

Perhaps the most counterintuitive finding: operators who invest in staff development and lose those staff to other properties reported better outcomes than those who withheld development. Alumni become ambassadors and many return. “Either way, the investment stays in the industry,” Pieterse said.

Culture as the strongest retention lever

Across every practice the roundtable discussed, a single thread emerged. The properties with the lowest turnover and strongest service were not necessarily those with the best programmes or the highest training budgets. They were the ones where staff genuinely believed someone in the building cared about them.

“If people believe you care about the things they are battling with at home, they are far more likely to care about the things you ask them to care about at work,” one participant said.

Culture of belonging – the felt sense that a person’s future is possible in this place – was named by multiple operators as the single most reliable retention lever available. Not a policy. Not a perk. A daily practice of genuine care.

“That is also the reason for optimism,” Pieterse said. “The most powerful tool available to this industry is not something that has to be bought or outsourced. It is something hospitality has always known how to provide.”

Download the discussion report HERE.