NATIONAL NEWS - South Africans are regarded as unfriendly and unwelcoming to Africans from the rest of the continent‚ Tourism Minister Tokozile Xasa says.
This was the key reason why the compound annual growth rate of African tourist arrivals reached only 1.5% between 2014 and 2016‚ while that of total arrivals to the country was 2.6% for the same period.
“Visa processes‚ capacity issues as well as the attacks on foreigner nationals in SA negatively impacted the positive image of SA‚” the minister said in a written reply to a parliamentary question.
Nigerians and Australians in particular do not have a very positive image of SA as a tourist destination.
Among SA Tourism’s core investment markets in terms of advertising‚ Nigeria had a 36% brand positivity rating and Australia 25%.
“Positivity towards SA ranked low amongst Nigerians because they perceive South Africans as not having a welcoming reputation to West Africans. Challenges with visa processing as well as attacks on foreign nationals negatively impacted on the positive image of South Africa‚” Xasa said in reply to another question.
