South Africa's Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk visited New York City today for the second time this year to share the country's tourism figures.
Tourism numbers continue to track ahead of record-breaking arrival numbers in 2010 with a 19.2 percent increase overall since the start of the year. Heavy investments in lifestyle tourism continue to be a global priority for South African Tourism and will catapult the destination to meet its goals of 15 million worldwide visitors, augment tourism revenue to $75 billion a year, and create 225,000 new jobs by 2020.
“South Africa’s diverse spectrum of lifestyle experiences will be the future of tourism growth and a major focus in our international marketing efforts,” said Minister Van Schalkwyk. “Our destination is already enjoying strong arrival numbers from the U.S. and Canada.”
President Sthu Zungu of South African Tourism North America said that positivity and awareness of South Africa “is at an all-time high.”