The appointment of Minister Lindiwe Sisulu is welcomed by the tourism and hospitality sector – FEDHASA

The Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (FEDHASA) warmly welcomes the appointment of Lindiwe Sisulu as South Africa’s new Minister of Tourism.

With her extensive experience in numerous Government portfolios, including that of Ministry of Foreign Relations, Minister Sisulu is perfectly positioned to hit the ground running and help revive the tourism industry. She is acutely aware of how heavily the very survival of tourism and hospitality depends on what is done within her department within the next few months.

“FEDHASA is looking forward to working with Minister Sisulu on a number of exciting new opportunities to bring additional tourism to South Africa which will create many thousands of jobs and buoy our economy,” says Rosemary Anderson, FEDHASA National Chairperson.

One such opportunity, accelerated by COVID-19, is that of the ‘Digital Nomad’. This new trend sees employees working remotely from any destination in the world. 

“Without any marketing, Cape Town already ranked #16^th in the world for remote working,” says Anderson.  “With the correct marketing and visa facilitation, FEDHASA believes we can get Cape Town to rank #3 in the world.”

According to Anderson, the Digital Nomad trend could grow the tourism and hospitality sectors in South Africa to as much as 1 million bed nights per year. This would be a game-changer for the country and the tourism industry.

Good quality connectivity and infrastructure are essential to digital nomads. South Africa is one of the few countries in Africa that can robustly provide the infrastructure and the strong connectivity required to work remotely, within internationally well-priced, beautiful settings.

FEDHASA is excited to work with Minister Sisulu on this new opportunity, which has been fast-tracked by the COVID-19 pandemic. Embracing the Digital Nomad market could bring a catalytic change to our tourism industry by creating hundreds of thousands of jobs.”

“Important role players in tourism are keen to work with Minister Sisulu to turn the COVID-19 trauma into a magnificent opportunity to propel South African tourism to a level it has never reached before,” concludes Anderson.