Eco Tourism in South Africa continues to grow
Bidders Choice
Limpopo the most popular eco-tourism destination has recently experienced a spike in tourism. According to Statistics South Africa, Gauteng and Limpopo are currently the most popular destinations for day travellers. Overnight travellers are most likely to visit Limpopo, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal.
In addition Limpopo received the most trips as a destination province in 2015, compared to other provinces, in a review by SA Tourism.
Eco Tourism is a great contributor to the country’s economy. According to the 2017 Travel & Tourism Economic Impact report, the direct contribution of travel and tourism to the country’s GDP, was R127bn in 2016, a 3% contribution and forecasted the contribution to rise by 2,7% in 2017 and 4,5% annually between 2017 and 2027.
The report also indicates that in 2016, travel and tourism directly supported 716,500 jobs, which is 4.6% of total employment in the country. The expected increase predicted for 2017 was 3.6% and an annual increase of 4.1% to 1,110,000 jobs (6.0% of South Africa’s) total employment) in 2027.
According to Pieter Geldenhuys, CEO of Bidders Choice, “The growth of the tourism industry initiates a keen interest in investments in ecotourism properties. Investors require ecotourist properties in good locations within a 200-300 km radius from major cities, with tremendous tourism potential and that offer water, game and preferably existing facilities. An existing brand and outstanding reputation is also beneficial.”
Pieter says not only local buyers are interested in these properties, but often also international buyers, who want to invest in conservation. These buyers normally prefer to buy on auction due to the transparency, ease and speed of the sales.
The typical buyer of eco-tourism properties are farmers who decided to turn farming into a profitable ecotourism lodge, conservationist who wants to make an impact on conserving our beautiful country, or a property investor who identified a business opportunity.
Whatever the dream or the reason, owning large agricultural land and being a conservationist, require the correct skill sets to regenerate the land and properly conserve it. If it is done correctly it can become much more profitable and create more employment opportunities than standard cattle farms.
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