Sluggish economic growth over the next few years and a weak rand could help boost domestic tourism, as travellers opt for local travel instead of going abroad, the national tourism sector strategy has concluded. The strategy, which was adopted by the Cabinet last week, builds on the 10-year strategy adopted in 2010. The labour-intensive tourism sector has been identified as a priority growth sector in the national development plan as it creates jobs, fosters the development of small businesses and generates foreign direct investment and significant export earnings. Domestic tourism is regarded as providing the backbone to sustainable tourism growth but has registered a serious decline over the past few years. Domestic tourist trips declined 12.5% in 2015 compared to the previous year, and a further 0.7% in 2016. While the national tourism sector strategy of 2010 projected a growth in domestic holiday trips from 4-million in 2009 to 6-million in 2015, there was in fact a decline from...
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