A report by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) says that the total contribution of travel and tourism to the country’s GDP is expected to grow by 2.5 percent, to R412.2 billion (9.4 percent of GDP) in 2017, compared to R402 billion in 2016 (9.3 percent of GDP).
Moreover, travel and tourism's contribution to employment in SA is forecast to rise to 6.7 percent in 2017, some 1.6 million jobs or 10.2 percent of total employment. This is up from 1.5 million jobs in 2016, the equivalent of 9.8 percent of total employment.
Business travel spending is expected to grow by 1.6 percent this year, to R95.6b billion, and increase by 2.6 percent per year, to R123.6 billion in 2027.
