Tourism minister Patricia De Lille says the rise in the numbers of US tourists to South Africa is an indication that US President Donald Trump’s false allegations of a white genocide have failed to translate to its citizens.
In an interview with the Sunday Times on Tuesday after her participation in the Davos summit last week, De Lille said the recent announcement that South Africa would host the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Special Davos Meeting in 2027 was proof that South Africa was respected by world leaders.
South Africa is the second country to host the WEF spring summit outside Switzerland, with the first having been held in Dubai.
The WEF summit brings together world leaders in business and politics to discuss geopolitics and the global economy.
This year’s conference marked a turning point as tensions between the US and its allies in Europe dominated conversations.
“Sometimes we unnecessarily respond to this negativity and lies about genocide. Tourism is not affected by tariffs. In fact, what we have seen in August and September [was an] increase in the number of US tourists coming to South Africa. People say to themselves ‘this cant be true, let’s go see for ourselves’.”
South Africa recorded 10.48-million international arrivals between January and December 2025 — an increase of 17.6% on pre-pandemic numbers.
De Lille said the government will continue to ride the wave of its successful hosting of the G20 summit despite the snub from the White House. She added the tourism sector stands to benefit from the Davos spring summit and the Cricket World Cup in 2027.
“It shows confidence in the country, that the world respects us and the value of getting all these people to come to our country around a conference is undervalued in South Africa. We don’t speak often enough about the value of business events, meetings and conferences [hosted in the country].”
The hospitality and transport sectors stand to benefit, and there is research that shows people who come for a conference spend more than people who come on holiday. The value is massive in 2027
— Tourism minister Patricia de Lille
Last year marked a turning point for US-South Africa relations, with the Trump administration imposing a 30% tariff on South African exports and cutting funding to the country. Trump also granted refugee status to white South Africans, making false claims of a genocide. This led to his administration snubbing the G20 summit and disinviting South Africa from this year’s G20 summit in Miami.
De Lille said despite this, South Africa has not been deterred from bidding to host international events.
“The hospitality and transport sectors stand to benefit, and there is research that shows people who come for a conference spend more than people who come on holiday. The value is massive in 2027… The negative sentiment is a perception, and perception becomes reality. So we must do more as a country to break down that negative perception by illustrating we can host business events,” she said.
“I said to my colleagues in Davos that the one word I left behind in South Africa was ‘challenges’. [Davos] is not the space to talk about challenges. [It was a space] to rise to the occasion and show who we are.”
In a media briefing outlining the department’s objectives and achievements over the past financial year, De Lille said the department’s priority would be the easing of access to the country. The department of home affairs will be rolling out the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system, starting with India, China, Mexico and Indonesia, after its successful pilot during the G20 Summit.
Improved access also includes strengthened air connectivity. New and expanded routes include Qantas’ direct Perth–Johannesburg flight, Air France’s seasonal daily service to Cape Town, SAA’s Cape Town–Mauritius route and expanded domestic connectivity such as FlySafair’s Hoedspruit–Cape Town service.
Former home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi had pushed back against easing visa access to India and China in the previous administration, she said.
De Lille said she approached the cabinet of the 6th administration about easing visa access to the two markets.
“They come out of Brics. [I didn’t understand] why we had a different system for India and China than we had for Brazil and Russia … minister Motsoaledi had turned down China and India."
She said President Cyril Ramaphosa had put together an interministerial committee from tourism, home affairs and state security. This resulted in visa reforms which are under way to open up access to the two countries, which will allow for further economic growth in the tourism sector.
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