Johannesburg and South Africa have reason to be positive about the outlook of tourism and the positive effects for the South African economy after figures were released by the Tourism Business Council of South Africa showing the country exceeded expectations for 2012.
The performance of South Africa reached 104.6. One hundred is considered normal. It is an improvement over 2011, when the score was 101.1, still higher than normal, rising from the previous score of 87.3 that was achieved in 2010.
The board chairman of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa, Mavuso Msimang, said the results provided relief for a sector of the economy that has been through a couple tough years.
"This is the second consecutive quarter that TBI has recorded performance levels above the norm and is a clear indication of the extent to which business is recovering from the recessionary impacts and excess of supply it suffered post the 2010 Soccer World Cup," Msimang told Breaking Travel News.
The business and investor confidence for capacity and employment increases show the sector's resilience and its long-term potential for growth.
However, there are still a number of concerning factors at play.
"Global economic uncertainty and ongoing recessions risk, coupled with the negative profiling of South Africa internationally through labor and community unrest weighs heavily as a constant for the sector," said Gillian Saunders, the head of security advisors for Grant Thornton. "Input cost increases from rates, electricity and fuel costs were also cited as negative factors affecting business performance."
These concerns result from business confidence indexes, which decreased in the last quarter of 2012.
"The results show that the market has begun to recognize South Africa as a sought after destination," said Wiza Nyondo, the head of tourism. "Although we've seen some instability, we still believe in South Africa's diverse offering of services and products where industry professionals can partner to help transform our country."
Domestic business markets are expected to grow and have the largest increase, with foreign leisure travel and domestic leisure travel following.
Johannesburg was founded as a city over 125 years ago when one of the world's richest gold-bearing reefs was discovered there. Since then, it has been a city of prospects, commerce and potential, still attracting people looking for opportunity.
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