South Africa welcomed a record 10.5 million international visitors in 2025 and used ITB Berlin 2026, the world’s largest travel trade show, to convert that momentum into new European partnerships and spending commitments.
The three-day event in Berlin from 3 to 5 March brought South Africa’s largest trade delegation in years, led by Deputy Minister of Tourism Maggie Sotyu alongside South African Tourism’s Acting CEO Dr Shamilla Chettiar and Chief Convention Bureau Officer Corne Koch. The focus was squarely commercial: longer stays, higher per capita spend, and locked-in distribution partnerships with European buyers.
- Germany, one of South Africa’s highest-value European source markets, grew 14% year on year: from 254,992 arrivals in 2024 to 290,795 in 2025. Engagements at the show targeted further growth in average length of stay and per capita spend within this market.
- Forty-nine exhibitors represented South Africa at the dedicated pavilion, covering airlines, destination management companies, accommodation providers, and tourism authorities. Twenty-two were small and medium enterprises supported through the Department of Tourism’s Tourism Incentive Programme, with an additional two Limpopo-based operators backed by the Limpopo Tourism Agency.
- South Africa’s brand campaign, "South Africa Awaits: Come Find Your Joy," anchored the country’s messaging around cultural immersion, wildlife, adventure, and gastronomy. The pitch positions South Africa as a value destination with premium experiences, competing against established long-haul rivals in the European market.
- South Africa’s global events credentials were front and centre. The successful hosting of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in 2025 demonstrated infrastructure and logistics capacity at the highest level. The World Economic Forum is scheduled to hold a Special Davos Meeting in South Africa in 2027, further anchoring the country’s international profile.
- The delegation’s participation is framed under the Tourism Growth Partnership Plan, which prioritises coordinated marketing, ease of access, and inclusive participation to ensure that tourism revenue is distributed across the value chain and not concentrated in large operators.
At the same ITB Berlin 2026 event, Kenya launched a record tourism drive targeting 5 million arrivals by 2027, as covered in our earlier analysis. The two countries are pursuing distinct but complementary strategies: South Africa deepening European commercial relationships from a position of record volume; Kenya building brand scale from a lower visitor base with a more aggressive growth target.
Bigger picture: Ten million international arrivals is a material inflection point for a destination. At that scale, South Africa generates significant foreign exchange, supports hundreds of thousands of jobs, and becomes a serious competitor for a fixed pool of long-haul European travel spend. The strategic play at ITB Berlin is not about awareness: it is about yield. Germany at 291,000 arrivals growing 14% represents roughly $350 to $500 million in annual tourism revenue from a single source market, depending on average spend assumptions. Multiplied across European markets and extended by longer stays, the upside from conversion-focused trade engagement runs into the billions. The inclusion of SMMEs in the Berlin delegation is economically significant: it ensures that smaller operators gain access to distribution channels that would otherwise be closed to them, and that tourism’s benefits reach communities beyond the major urban centres.
Source: Tourism News Africa / Tourism Update / Travel Mole
