Patricia de Lille promotes South Africa's tourism investment opportunities at the inaugural summit

Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille made sure to put her foot forward in luring investors for several projects at the inaugural Tourism Investment Summit, a G20 legacy project.

The Investment Summit comes in the lead-up to the G20 Tourism Ministers Meeting, taking place in Mpumalanga. The purpose of the Tourism Ministers’ Meeting in 2025 is to discuss and agree on key priorities for the G20's action plan on tourism development.

The Tourism Investment Summit sees global leaders, policymakers, investors, and industry stakeholders convene in Cape Town to drive and develop a robust investment pipeline for South Africa's tourism industry.

In her address, De Lille said it is no cliché to say South Africa is the most beautiful country in the world, “but the question before us today is not whether South Africa is beautiful. The question is: What more can we offer the world? This summit marks the beginning of that answer.

“Today, we are putting before you eight flagship, bankable projects. These are projects from both the public and private sectors, with strong return on investment and high community impact.

“And this is just a fraction of what lies in our national pipeline, which is rich, diverse, and growing. We stand here not only as a nation of immense tourism potential, but also as a gateway to Africa.”

Projects are expected to include:

• Gods Window Skywalk: Jerry Mabena
• Hole in the Wall Resort: Bossie Bosman
• Eye of Menlyn: Nobesuthu Kubheka
• Orpen Kruger Lodge: Marnus Nico Coetzee
• Groote Schuur Restaurant: James Daniels
• Water World Fun Park: Oyama Makalima
• Skukuza Rest Camp, (KNP): Hapiloe Sello
• Tokai Manor, Table Mountain: James Daniels

De Lille said collectively, all eight projects represent nearly R1 billion in investment-ready opportunities.

She added that “G20 Tourism Investment for Jobs, Growth, and Transformation” reminds everyone that this is not just about business, but about livelihoods.

“This is about reshaping South Africa and positioning Africa as a global tourism powerhouse. Together, through regional collaboration, enabling policies, and smart infrastructure, we can achieve this vision.”

She said that as of June 1, 2025, the Amended National Treasury Regulation 16 for Public-Private Partnerships came into effect, which allows the government to embrace models from Design-Build-Operate partnerships to blended finance and crowdfunding.

“I call on you, our investors in this room and those joining us online, to bring forward your ideas, your models, and your innovations. Let us build tourism infrastructure that not only attracts visitors but uplifts communities and creates jobs.

“And while PPPs (public private partnerships) are one option, the amendments introduced by Treasury allow investors to provide us with innovative financing models. With the right mix, we can build infrastructure, create jobs, and uplift communities, all at once.

“Tourism contributes at least 8,5% to South Africa’s GDP. In July alone, South Africa welcomed over 880,000 visitors, which is a 26% increase compared to last year. Behind these numbers are livelihoods, families, and communities,” De Lille said.

In her keynote address, Vice Minister of Tourism, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, HH Princess Haifa Al Saud, said tourism is no longer just recovering.

“Today, we are outperforming and outpacing the numbers that you have mentioned, and I think what is most intriguing to note and see is that while over the past decade we have already hit 1.4x growth in tourism and in global tourism GDP, the next decade is going to be 2x and double that,” Al Saud said.

“It's not just the time to really invest in policymakers and partnerships and collaboration with the private and public sector, but it's also the time to really invest fully in the value chain of tourism, whether it comes from visa reforms, air connectivity and access, products, and the cities leading. Now is the time for all of that.”

“South Africa has really been a pioneer.”

Al Saud asked De Lille if she could call her “the godmother of tourism” as everything that she has done is “pioneering not just in your own country, and not just at the African level, but globally”.

“We have really looked to you for a lot of lessons learned in what can be done, and what should be done, and you have mentioned a lot of that in your speech just now, which was very truly inspiring and truly worthy of the standing ovation.

“I think if I were to just summarise why we're all here today, it is that we are here to support. We are here to really make this all come true, and thank you so much for emphasising that sustainability.

“It's a very overused term. I was mentioning this earlier to the team. I said we say too much and we don't do enough about it. So today, inclusive growth, and putting together our communities first, and looking at what we can bring to the table, and how we can offer and what we can offer, and how we can support is really why we're all here today.”

theolin.tembo@inl.co.za

* Tourism Investment Summit coverage comes from a Hosted Media Programme by South African Tourism.