South Africa and Google have entered into a partnership to promote South Africa as a leading tourism destination. South Africa is a highly sought-after destination for both local and foreign tourists, offering a wide range of attractions including beaches and safari excursions. The tourism sector is also a major contributor to employment in the country.
As part of the partnership, Google will provide insights into global travel trends and offer strategies to the South African tourism ministry for targeting specific markets and providing tailored experiences to visitors based on their expectations.
Google will also provide support to tourism start-ups by offering training on advertising, helping to digitise more tourist sites, and enabling small businesses in the sector to compete globally.
This agreement, which is described as a partnership without any cash payment involved, was signed in Cape Town by South Africa’s tourism minister Patricia de Lille and Alistair Mokoena, Country Director for Google South Africa.
The primary goal of this collaboration is to leverage Google’s technological expertise to support the Ministry of Tourism’s efforts in promoting South Africa as a prime tourist destination, the statement said.
Google will also showcase South African tourism through its Arts and Culture platform, according to Alistair Mokoena.
In a promising sign for the country’s tourism industry, international tourist arrivals have increased by 70.6% compared to the first seven months of 2022. This increase represents a total of 4.8 million arrivals from January to July this year, as reported by the tourism ministry.
Based on this trend, the ministry predicts that the number of arrivals will exceed the 10 million recorded in 2019 by the end of March next year, which is a positive outlook for the recovery of the tourism industry from the COVID-19 pandemic.