ZAWYA
South Africa and Google have signed a deal to promote the African country as a prime tourism destination.
South Africa is a major attraction for both domestic and international tourists seeking out its beaches and safari excursions. The sector is also a big employer in the country.
Google will provide insights into global travel trends and will provide the South African tourism ministry strategies for targeting specific markets and tailoring experiences to visitor expectations, a statement from the tourism ministry said.
The US tech giant will also support tourism start-ups, offer them training on advertising, help in the digitisation of South Africa’s tourism by getting more sites online and enable small businesses in the sector to be more competitive globally.
The agreement, described by the ministry as a partnership with no 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 harness 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 would also showcase South African tourism through its Arts and Culture platform, Mokoena said.
In a promising sign for the country’s tourism recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, international tourist arrivals rose to 4.8 million from January to July this year, the tourism ministry said in August.
This represented a 70.6% increase in arrivals compared with the first seven months of 2022.
Based on the trend, the ministry forecast arrival numbers to exceed the 10 million recorded in 2019 by the end of March next year.
