Mpumalanga, 2 April 2024 – Tourism is incredibly important in South Africa. In 2023, it contributed 8.6% towards the South African economy and was responsible for 9.2% of total employment. A beacon among the many attractions the country has to offer is the Kruger National Park, drawing over a million visitors annually. Cape Town is another hot destination which has only grown in popularity in recent years.
However, the considerable distance of nearly two thousand kilometres between these iconic locations can present challenges in terms of cost and time for travellers looking to include both in their itinerary. FlySafair is looking to resolve this issue with the launch of their newest route joining Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) and Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport (KMIA), helping tourists explore more of our beautiful country.
“We are extremely excited to launch this new route. As a brand, FlySafair is passionate about sharing not only our love of flying, but also our love of all the beauty South Africa has to offer,” said Kirby Gordon, Chief Marketing Officer at FlySafair. “Currently, options on this route are limited. By adding additional capacity and our low-cost model to the roster we hope that more tourists, both local and international, can enjoy the wonders that each of these iconic spots have to offer.”
South Africa is fast returning to its status as a tourism hotspot. According to an official government report, the country welcomed in 2.1 million international visitors in Q1 of 2023 alone, just 21.5% lower than 2019 while local travel levels surpassed pre-Covid numbers. However, the distribution of these arrivals has not been equal. The vast majority of international visitors spent their time in either Gauteng or the Western Cape. While business travel may account for some of this, the concerted efforts of Cape Town Tourism have made major moves in shifting perceptions around important topics like safety in the province, a top contributing factor to their recent success.
Finding ways to spread this success to other parts of the country will have undeniable positive implications. Introducing additional flight capacity to this route could be a big step towards encouraging tourists to add more items to their itinerary, as well as opening up faraway destinations to local tourists without the hassle and expense of multiple connections or extremely long drives.
“We are excited to have the opportunity to bring the opposite corners of South Africa closer together, giving everyone an affordable way to do both the bush and the beach. Unfortunately, the inconvenience of multiple flights has led visitors to take an either-or approach to travel in South Africa. Hopefully, having a low-cost air travel option can help change this and encourage visitors to book even longer stays,” said Gordon.
To celebrate the first flight on this route, FlySafair hosted an event inviting government officials, key FlySafair team members, and tourism stakeholders together to discuss the future of tourism in the area. Among the attendees were premier of Mpumalanga province, Ms Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane and Mrs Nompumelelo Evidence Hlope, MEC: Department of Economic Development and Tourism, Managing director at KMIA, Grant Ponting, and FlySafair Chairman, Blacky Komani as well as several members of their cabinets and staff respectively. After hearing an address from each of these stakeholders, media were invited to engage in an open question and answer session which covered a broad range of topics within the tourism industry.
“Although there are a number of individual parties involved here, we believe we can see the best results by working together towards a common purpose. Improving the tourism industry and encouraging more exploration of our country is something which will benefit all of us. Events like this are important in that they give us the chance to come together and find more ways to pool our resources to grow the industry together,” concluded Gordon.