SA’s removal from the UK ‘red list’ is a boost for economic recovery in WC

The fact that South Africa has been removed from the United Kingdom’s ‘red list’ is great news for the Western Cape.

This decision brings an end to a baffling diplomatic shamble that risked the economic recovery of the tourism and hospitality sector in the Western Cape.

The UK is a key source market for tourism in the Western Cape. In 2019, approximately 194,900 UK tourists visited the Western Cape, spending on average R24,200 per tourist.

The decision couldn’t have come at a better time allowing long-separated friends and families to reunite and the many tourists who regularly visit the Western Cape to enjoy our affordable and unique attractions over the summer season. 

Of course, this will also provide much-needed relief for the tourism and hospitality sector supporting our economic recovery in the Western Cape.   

So we now look forward to welcoming visitors from the UK back to the Western Cape with the first British Airways flight between London Heathrow and Cape Town International Airport scheduled to resume from the 1 November 2021.

And we will work hard to take advantage of the opportunity, and the pent-up demand to travel from the UK to South Africa by: 

• Running a social media campaign across our tourism promotion accounts @DiscovertCTWC welcoming UK tourists back to the Western Cape;
• Launching our ‘Neverending Tourist’ consumer campaign in-market to trade and stakeholders followed by a big drive into market during UK “booking peaks from January 2022;
• Joining South African Tourism on their virtual platform at World Travel Market London in November; and 
• Inviting UK tourism trade and media to experience some of our key experiences and attractions in the Western Cape so the destination is front-of-mind for their clients.

Finally, I’d like to thank all those who worked on the campaign to remove South Africa from the ‘red list’. The success of this initiative is a great example of how the public and private sector can work together to achieve common outcomes.

We will continue to do everything we can to ensure the recovery of the tourism sector by tackling barriers to growth, increasing connectivity to the region and running our award-winning destination marketing campaigns that showcase the best that Cape Town and the Western Cape has to offer.

Listen to soundbyte from Minister David Maynier: