The latest Statistics South Africa Food & Beverage Survey (May 2026) paints a concerning picture for one of South Africa’s largest employers.

While many may view a decline of only 0.3% in real income as relatively insignificant, those operating restaurants, pubs, coffee shops and food service businesses know that these figures tell a very different story. A story restaurateurs have felt for many months – but is only now being reflected in the stats.  In real terms (constant 2019 prices), food and beverage income declined by 0.3% in May 2026 compared with May 2025.  Looking at the latest three-month period, food and beverage income fell by 0.2%, with restaurants and coffee shops declining by 1.7%, making them the largest contributor to the industry’s decline.

Seasonally adjusted figures tell a similar story, with income decreasing by 0.6% over the latest three months, once again driven primarily by restaurants and coffee shops.

These are not simply statistics.

They represent thousands of business owners who are working longer hours, carrying greater financial risk and employing millions of South Africans while trying simply to survive.

Turnover is Flat – Costs are Not

The greatest challenge facing the hospitality industry is that turnover has remained largely stagnant while operating costs continue to increase at unprecedented levels.

Every significant expense faced by restaurants has increased substantially over recent years, from electricity tariffs to food – to every single input cost.

For many hospitality businesses, these cost increases have far exceeded consumer inflation.  In practical terms, restaurants today generally require annual revenue growth of between 10% and 15% simply to maintain the same profitability.  Any increase below this often means the business is actually going backwards financially.

This is why a real decline of 0.3% is far more significant than it first appears.

Government Must Understand the Reality

The hospitality industry fully supports legislation that protects employees and customers.

However, new legislation must also be practical, affordable and proportionate.

Unfortunately, government departments often introduce new compliance requirements without fully appreciating the cumulative financial impact on businesses that already operate on extremely small profit margins.  Although aimed at improving workplace health and safety, these regulations introduce additional obligations.  Each of these requirements carries a cost.

For larger organisations these costs may be manageable.

For independent restaurants, cafés, pubs and family-owned food businesses already operating on margins often below 5%, every additional compliance requirement places further pressure on their viability.

No individual regulation may appear excessive in isolation.  The problem is the cumulative effect.

When combined with escalating municipal charges, increasing utility costs, higher food prices, rising wages and ongoing economic uncertainty, another layer of compliance can easily become the difference between remaining open and closing permanently.

One of South Africa’s Greatest Job Creators

The irony is that restaurants are among South Africa’s greatest creators of employment.  Few industries employ more people per square metre of trading space than the hospitality sector.  Importantly, our industry creates employment opportunities for people from every educational background.

Restaurants provide first jobs for school leavers, opportunities for individuals with limited formal education, practical workplace training, career development and entrepreneurial opportunities.  In a country where unemployment remains one of our greatest national challenges, this sector should be encouraged – not burdened.  Every restaurant that closes means job losses, suppliers lose customers, farmers lose markets, local economies lose spending.

The ripple effect extends far beyond a single business.

A Different Approach is Needed

FEDHASA believes there is a better way.

Government should actively work with the hospitality industry to create an environment where businesses can grow, invest and employ more South Africans.

This includes:

• Simplifying regulatory compliance for small and medium-sized hospitality businesses.
• Conducting meaningful economic impact assessments before introducing new regulations.
• Recognising hospitality as a strategic employment sector deserving of support.
• Ending the ongoing disruption to essential bulk services that is undermining business sustainability.
• Moderating above-inflation increases in rates and utility charges.
• Creating incentives for businesses that expand employment and skills development.

Hospitality is an Investment in South Africa

Restaurants are far more than places where people eat – they are community gathering places, tourism attractions, training grounds for future professionals and one of the country’s most accessible entry points into employment.

The latest Statistics South Africa figures should serve as a warning.

Our industry remains resilient, innovative and optimistic.

But resilience cannot replace profitability.

If South Africa genuinely wishes to reduce unemployment, stimulate tourism and grow local economies, then the restaurant and food service sector must be recognised as a strategic partner in economic development – not simply another industry upon which additional costs and regulatory obligations can be imposed.

Supporting hospitality businesses is not merely good for the industry.

It is good for employment.

It is good for tourism.

It is good for communities.

And ultimately, it is good for South Africa.

The invitation was extended by Gustav Pieterse, FEDHASA Inland Chairperson, which represents the hospitality sector across Gauteng, the Free State, North West, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo. It reflects FEDHASA’s ongoing commitment to ensuring that every segment of the hospitality industry, and every professional within it, has a seat at the table.

The South African Concierge Forum will be represented within FEDHASA Inland by Masood Sadulla, Golden Key Member and Chief Concierge and Guest Experience Manager at the Saxon Hotel, Villas & Spa, together with Deon Prinsloo and Kagisho Ditira, co-founders of D&D Concierge Consultancy.

“The concierge is often the first and last point of contact a guest has with a property, and in many ways, with South Africa itself,” said Pieterse. “Bringing concierge professionals formally into FEDHASA’s structures is a natural and necessary step. Their expertise in guest experience, their role in shaping perceptions of our destinations, and their contribution to service excellence make them an integral part of this industry. We are proud to welcome them.”

Founded in 1949, FEDHASA is South Africa’s recognised national trade association for the hospitality industry, representing hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, conference venues, and catering establishments under one banner. Recognised by government as the official voice of the sector, FEDHASA advocates on behalf of its members on legislative and policy matters, supports skills development and transformation, and works to create a favourable operating environment for businesses of all sizes.

D&D Concierge Consultancy, known for its bespoke concierge training, consulting, and industry development work, has played a significant role in elevating the standards and visibility of concierge services across South Africa. The consultancy works closely with hotels, luxury establishments, and concierge professionals to enhance guest experience and operational excellence – values that align closely with FEDHASA’s own.

“This invitation is not only an honour, but a meaningful step forward for the concierge community,” said Prinsloo. “Being recognised by FEDHASA affirms the vital role concierges play within the broader hospitality ecosystem, and we look forward to contributing to industry growth, strengthening standards, and ensuring a strong, unified voice for concierge professionals.”

For Ditira, the significance of the moment extends beyond the immediate milestone. “This recognition marks a defining moment for the concierge profession, giving us a long-overdue voice within South Africa’s hospitality landscape. We are ready to contribute and to grow alongside an organisation that has championed this industry for more than 75 years.”

The collaboration is expected to open new avenues for professional development, networking, and closer alignment between concierge professionals and the wider hospitality sector, reinforcing FEDHASA’s position as the home of every voice in South African hospitality.

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.

The Employment Services Amendment Bill was tabled in Parliament in May 2026. The Revised Draft Business Licensing Bill arrived even more quietly, uploaded to a government website with no gazette notice and no opportunity for public comment. Both Bills hand significant new powers to government ministers, and both could make running a hospitality business in South Africa considerably harder.

“For years, FEDHASA has been calling on government to reduce red tape and the burden of regulatory oversight placed on all levels of business,” said Brett Tungay, National Chairperson of FEDHASA. “This legislation is further bureaucracy on bureaucracy. It is not what industry is calling for.”

Employment Services Amendment Bill

This Bill gives the Minister of Employment and Labour the authority to set quotas on the number of foreign nationals a business can employ, broken down by sector, occupational category, or geographic area. Non-compliance carries penalties of up to R1 million or 10% of annual turnover.

Hotels, lodges, and restaurants across South Africa rely on a mix of local and international expertise, in kitchen management, front-of-house operations, conferencing, and tourism services. Quotas imposed without clear criteria or proper industry consultation would make it harder to fill specialist roles, slow down hiring, and add compliance costs that many businesses cannot absorb.

The Helen Suzman Foundation described an earlier version of the Bill as “unworkable and, in all likelihood, an unlawful interference in South African labour markets and in the lives of foreign nationals lawfully residing in South Africa and who have been granted the right to work here.” FEDHASA agrees.

The Bill is expected to be published for formal public comment in the coming months.

Revised Draft Business Licensing Bill

The bigger concern may be the Business Licensing Bill, and the way it was introduced. The Department of Small Business Development added a significant new clause to the Bill on its website in May 2026, without gazetting it, without the Government Printer, and without inviting public comment. Industry only found out because someone was watching closely.

That new clause – Clause 17 – would allow the Minister to declare certain business activities or entire industries off-limits to foreign-owned or foreign-controlled businesses. For hospitality, where international hotel brands, foreign franchise operators, and cross-border investors play a direct role in job creation and tourism growth, this is a real and immediate concern.

“We are a country in dire need of employment,” said Tungay. “Why can’t we have foreign nationals create that employment alongside local South Africans, rather than legislating them out of the picture?”

FEDHASA has made formal submissions on both Bills and will engage at every stage of the parliamentary process. The association is calling on the relevant departments to conduct full economic and constitutional impact assessments before either Bill proceeds further.

Research from the EHL Group’s Food and Well-being Trend Report 2025 shows that between 60% and 70% of consumers now expect food-service operators to offer meals that are both healthy and sustainably sourced.Yet, according to Africa Travel Week’s 2026 State of African Tourism Report, only 4.3% of Southern and East African properties currently hold third-party sustainability certification. The gap between market expectation and industry delivery is wide, and closing it requires access to the right suppliers, frameworks, knowledge, and conversations.

 “Our role is to create the conditions in which our members can thrive. Sustainable food, beverage, and wellness are dramatically influencing guest choices, buyer decisions, and investment criteria right now. Our partnership with The Good Life Show Africa is just one of the ways we’re ensuring FEDHASA members have access to the platforms and partnerships they need to move forward with confidence,” said Lee-Anne Singer, FEDHASA Cape Chair.

The urgency is underscored by the EU’s Directive on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition (Directive 2024/825), which becomes binding across European member states from 27 September 2026. European buyers will be required to substantiate every sustainability claim made about the destinations and properties they sell, meaning South African hospitality businesses without verified sustainability credentials risk losing access to one of their most valuable source markets.

Among FEDHASA’s membership, operators are already demonstrating what is possible when sustainability is treated as an operational commitment rather than a communications exercise. Caron van Rooyen, General Manager of Hotel Verde, Africa’s first hotel to achieve Net Zero Waste certification from the Green Building Council of South Africa, speaks directly to the commercial case:

“There is a persistent assumption that sustainable food costs more and squeezes margins. Our experience tells a different story. Sustainability forces operational discipline. When done properly, it results in a more efficient kitchen rather than a more expensive one.”

Van Rooyen’s broader call to the industry is equally direct: “The industry needs to move from viewing sustainability as a marketing initiative to treating it as an operational standard. The operators who succeed will be those who integrate sustainability into the core of their business model rather than treating it as a separate strategy.”

It is a shift FEDHASA is committed to supporting across its full membership through advocacy, knowledge sharing, and strategic partnerships – such as with The Good Life Show Africa – that connect operators with everything they need to make sustainable practices measurable, verifiable, and commercially viable. 

As the only event of its kind on the continent, The Good Life Show Africa gives hospitality operators direct access to Africa’s most innovative producers – across food and beverage, wellness, eco-luxury personal care, and hotel amenities – through live culinary demonstrations, masterclasses, and a curated marketplace where products can be experienced firsthand.

“The show serves as a vital platform for businesses in the booming sustainability market, connecting them with influential buyers, investors, and conscious consumers,” said Heidi Warricker, Chief Events Officer at Live Events, organiser of the Good Life Show Africa. “Visitors have the opportunity to see first-hand how Africa’s producers are revolutionising the better-living space, and to taste, touch, smell, see, and take home all of this innovation.”

The 2026 edition has significantly expanded its trade infrastructure. Live Events has partnered with Ndarama Works, a Pan-African economic advisory consultancy, to facilitate market entry and export growth through targeted trade matchmaking and a hosted buyer programme drawing participants from across Africa, Europe, the Americas, and beyond. Operators attending the show can register to participate in curated matchmaking, connecting directly with buyers aligned to their product offering.

The exclusive 15% attendance discount for FEDHASA members is available on registration. Full details are available at www.goodlifeshowafrica.com.

The Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (FEDHASA) and Fair Trade Tourism (FTT) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), formalising a strategic partnership aimed at advancing responsible tourism practices across Southern Africa’s hospitality sector.

The agreement was signed on 22 April 2026 and officially launched at Africa’s Travel Indaba 2026 by Jaya Naidoo, General Manager FEDHASA KZN & Eastern Cape and FTT General Manager Grace Stead, establishing a framework to promote and advocate for responsible tourism principles and practices among their members and the broader industry. This includes providing educational opportunities (such as webinars, workshops, and digital learning hubs), networking, capacity-building, and market access, as well as collaborating on policy, research, projects, and events that encourage ethical tourism.

The partnership will also help to advance the tourism industry’s operational standards, with partners agreeing to meet quarterly to share relevant information and updates, review progress, and identify new opportunities. This ensures alignment across both organisations and avoids duplication or unnecessary competition.

The timely partnership comes as 45% of international travellers turn to accommodation with certified sustainable credentials, according to Booking.com’s 2024 Sustainable Travel Report. At the same time, the EU Directive on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition (Directive 2024/825), which becomes binding from 27 September 2026, is reshaping the terms on which international markets engage with tourism products. It is evident that, for South African hospitality businesses competing for international visitors, verified sustainability credentials are fast becoming a prerequisite for market access.

“Responsible tourism, once a niche positioning strategy, is now the direction the global market is moving in, and South African hospitality needs to move with it,” said Naidoo. “Our partnership with FTT gives our members a direct connection to one of Africa’s most credible and established responsible tourism certification frameworks. This is FEDHASA in action: removing barriers, opening doors, and ensuring our members have what they need to compete and lead.”

FTT is a leading African responsible tourism certification body, operating across South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia, Tanzania and Uganda. Its certification standard, which is independently reviewed and confirmed as compliant with Travalyst initiative, encompasses fair wages and working conditions, equitable distribution of benefits, ethical business practices, and environmental stewardship.

“South Africa’s tourism recovery is significant – 10.5 million international tourist arrivals in 2025, surpassing pre-pandemic levels, as reported by the National Department of Tourism. But recovery alone is not enough. The businesses that will thrive in the next decade are those that can demonstrate, credibly and verifiably, that they are operating in a way that is good for both people and the planet,” noted Stead.    

“FEDHASA’s membership represents a notable portion of South Africa’s hospitality industry, and this partnership means we can reach them with the tools, knowledge, and support they need to make that transition at scale,” she explained. 

The partnership will be reviewed annually and is in effect for an initial period of 36 months. The signing marks the beginning of a collaboration that both organisations intend to build on progressively, with joint initiatives to be announced in the months ahead.

In a recent meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Tourism, Parliament called for urgent corrective measures to clear outstanding applications, end inconsistent enforcement, and halt the unfair impoundment and fining of operators who had already applied and were awaiting approval.  

The committee further highlighted that hundreds of applications remain outstanding and warned that delays have placed severe financial strain on operators and threatened jobs across the tourism value chain.  

For years, operators faced penalties and even vehicle impoundments despite complying with regulations while waiting for licences to be processed – a situation that disrupted businesses nationwide and undermined confidence in the sector.  

FEDHASA National Chairperson Brett Tungay said: “The tour operator industry in South Africa can now breathe a sigh of relief as Parliament steps in to intervene in a decade-long struggle marked by licensing delays, unfair impoundments and inconsistent enforcement of regulations. 

“This is a major step toward restoring fairness, certainty and dignity to operators who have been trying to comply with the law while simply attempting to keep their businesses alive. Tourism is an ecosystem. When tour operators suffer, accommodation establishments, restaurants, attractions, guides and local communities all suffer with them.” 

FEDHASA noted that tour operators form a critical link in the tourism economy, directly supporting accommodation, restaurants, activity providers and transport services. Tourism is a significant contributor to employment and economic growth in South Africa, and regulatory certainty is essential for investment and recovery. 

Parliament has also called for improved governance at the National Public Transport Regulator, increased processing capacity, and alignment across provinces to prevent further inconsistent enforcement.  

Tungay added: “This outcome demonstrates what can be achieved when government and industry work together constructively. We now look forward to the implementation phase – clearing the backlog, restoring operational certainty, and allowing the tourism sector to focus on what it does best: welcoming visitors and creating jobs.” 

FEDHASA believes this intervention marks an important turning point for rebuilding confidence in South Africa as a tourism destination and enabling the sector to grow, invest and employ more South Africans. 

“Pollution and failing wastewater systems have held back the Vaal’s development for many years. The creation of this Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) shows that National Treasury, DWS, and Rand Water are taking structural action to rehabilitate the river system and stabilise critical water infrastructure,” said Brett Tungay, FEDHASA National Chairperson.

FEDHASA believes the VCWU will catalyse:

• Job creation across hospitality, accommodation, recreation, and supporting industries.
• Investment in tourism products as water quality and infrastructure improve.
• The revival of river based activities such as fishing tournaments, regattas, and eco tourism.
• Growth in related sectors including boat building, marinas, and maintenance services.
• Increased riverfront property values and associated economic activity.

The Vaal River Barrage Reservoir remains one of South Africa’s most promising inland tourism destinations. FEDHASA notes that a clean, well managed Vaal is essential for sustainable tourism growth and long term job creation.

National significance: A blueprint for South Africa

FEDHASA welcomes government’s commitment to replicate the Vaal SPV model in other municipalities. With municipalities collectively owing Water Boards R28 billion (R8.4 billion owed to Rand Water alone), this structural approach is urgently needed to secure national water services.

The SPV model offers a practical mechanism to:

• Support Water Boards’ operational sustainability.
• Protect national water security.
• Introduce professional, ring fenced management.
• Break the cycle of infrastructure collapse.
• Ensure accountability and performance.
• Address the municipal debt crisis crippling service delivery.

Government emphasised that the new utility is not a debt relief measure but a decisive step to stabilise services and safeguard the Water Board.

“FEDHASA views the VCWU’s launch as a national turning point toward competence driven water management, economic revival, tourism growth, and large scale job creation. A clean, reliable river system is the lifeblood of tourism. Through this new SPV, the Vaal, and, ultimately, other regions across South Africa, can begin the journey to a sustainable and opportunity rich future,” Tungay concluded.

In a major win for tourism and hospitality on KwaZulu-Natal’s South Coast, the National Department of Public Works has taken control of 15 prime seafront properties in Ray Nkonyeni Local Municipality and delegated their management to KZN Public Works for the next 20 years – securing long-awaited business certainty for operators.

This milestone follows more than a year of active engagement led by FEDHASA after the association was alerted in early 2024 that numerous coastal hospitality businesses were being restricted to month-to-month leases by the local municipality. This untenable arrangement resulted in some businesses closing and many others struggling to trade sustainably.

“The industry simply cannot function on month-to-month leases,” comments FEDHASA National Chairperson Brett Tungay. “Without long-term security, operators are unable to obtain liquor licences, secure finance, invest in infrastructure or offer proper employment contracts. Compliance was near impossible.”

FEDHASA initially engaged CoGTA to intervene, requesting that leases be extended to practical timeframes or that the properties be transparently released to tender. However, little progress was made.

Following the formation of the KwaZulu-Natal Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) mid-2024, FEDHASA escalated the matter to the KZN MEC for Public Works, Martin Meyer. This prompted an in-person meeting in Durban with MEC Meyer and National Minister of Public Works, Dean Macpherson – who immediately recognised the risks to local tourism, jobs and investment.

On 10 November, Minister Macpherson’s department formally assumed custodianship of the 15 properties and delegated their management to KZN Public Works under a 20-year mandate. The move is expected to enable sustainable investment, unlock job creation and revitalise tourism along the South Coast.

Minister Macpherson, a strong advocate for tourism-led growth, emphasised the importance of providing long-term certainty for private-sector operators to invest with confidence and create sustainable jobs.

Many affected businesses attended the announcement and expressed deep appreciation to FEDHASA for championing the issue. Public Works officials also extended special thanks to FEDHASA’s KZN Deputy Chair, Mandy Massey, whose on-the-ground involvement, research and multiple site visits were instrumental in achieving this outcome.

“This is FEDHASA walking the talk,” said Brett Tungay.  “We are committed to creating an operating environment where hospitality businesses can not only survive – but thrive.”

FEDHASA looks forward to seeing these 15 properties rehabilitated and re-activated, helping to unlock investment, boost visitor numbers and accelerate South Coast tourism growth.

Brett Tungay, FEDHASA National Chairperson, commended the Minister for prioritising the modernisation of South Africa’s visa and border control systems: “The introduction of the ETA is a bold and visionary step that will transform how international visitors experience South Africa from the very first moment they engage with our country. By removing outdated paper-based processes and replacing them with a fast, digital, traveller-friendly platform, Minister Schreiber is dismantling one of the biggest barriers to inbound tourism growth. This will undoubtedly help attract more visitors, create much-needed jobs, and buoy our economy.”

The ETA system leverages advanced machine learning and biometrics to digitalise visa applications, enabling real-time approvals and reducing processing delays. It integrates with the upgraded Electronic Movement Control System (EMCS 2.0), which will employ facial recognition at ports of entry such as OR Tambo and Cape Town International Airports, ensuring smoother, more secure arrivals.

FEDHASA believes the rollout of the ETA, beginning with G20 delegates and then expanding to tourists from China, India, Indonesia, and Mexico before being scaled globally, is a breakthrough that positions South Africa as a competitive and welcoming destination.

“Countries that make it easy to visit are the ones that win in global tourism,” Tungay added. “With the ETA, South Africa is sending a clear signal to the world that we are open, modernising, and ready to welcome more travellers. Tourism is one of the fastest routes to job creation, and this initiative will help unlock that potential.”

The ETA builds on the success of the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme (TTOS), which has already delivered more than 35,000 additional tourists from China and India in just seven months. FEDHASA is confident that the ETA will significantly accelerate these gains, especially ahead of 2026.

FEDHASA commends Minister Schreiber and the Department of Home Affairs for recognising the pivotal role tourism plays in economic growth, and for ensuring that the sector has the digital tools it needs to thrive in an increasingly competitive global market.