Covid-19 variants have been incorrectly associated with South Africa, consequently damaging the country’s brand reputation.
This is a concern that members of the tourism trade who sell South Arica to the world, raised with Minister of Tourism Lindiwe Sisulu during her recent visit to the United Arab Emirates.
She attended the UAE World EXPO 2020 in Dubai where South Africa has a stand. During the expo Sisulu also met with various representatives from other countries whose tourists are regarded as key for South Africa. The minister also met with airline executives.
“Meeting the airlines’ top executives makes it possible to talk directly to the people who manage the schedule, destinations to assure them that we have a safe place to go to,” Sisulu said in a statement on Thursday.
She is optimistic about the prospects of tourism bouncing back. She welcomes recent announcements by governments of source markets including the UK and Germany to remove South Africa from their travel red lists.
