South Africa Champions Domestic Tourism Push and Women-Led Enterprise Drive for 2026
South Africa's Tourism Month has taken centre stage this September, with Deputy Minister of Tourism Maggie Sotyu issuing a powerful call for citizens to rediscover their homeland while championing a bold new vision for women-led enterprise in the sector. Speaking at the Women in Tourism North West Provincial Chapter Business Breakfast, Sotyu framed this year's celebrations around the theme "Growing South Africa's Tourism Sector in the Digital Era," signalling a decisive shift in how the country intends to shape its tourism future.
Sotyu proposed that Tourism Month should evolve beyond a mere celebration of destinations and become a genuine business month for tourism entrepreneurs. In her view, encouraging South Africans to travel domestically must go hand in hand with promoting purchases from local tourism operators. Every promotional activation, she argued, should place community-based products and women-owned experiences at the heart of the visitor journey. This approach resonates strongly across sub-Saharan Africa, where domestic tourism is increasingly recognised as a cornerstone of resilient sector growth.
The Deputy Minister placed particular emphasis on the North West Province as a destination deserving greater attention from local explorers. She underlined a simple but powerful economic truth: every rand spent within a local tourism business circulates back into strengthening communities. For African travel professionals watching regional trends, this messaging aligns with a continent-wide movement to ensure tourism revenue produces tangible benefits for host communities rather than leaking out to external stakeholders.
Turning her attention to gender transformation, Sotyu reaffirmed government's determination to drive structural economic reform by empowering female entrepreneurs across the full travel and hospitality value chain. She stressed the urgent need to dismantle barriers preventing women from participating fully in the economy, while creating clear pathways into ownership and leadership positions. Sustainable business creation, she noted, must become the norm rather than the exception for women in tourism.
Access to finance, according to Sotyu, remains one of the most significant obstacles facing emerging tourism businesses. To address this challenge, the Department of Tourism has partnered with the National Empowerment Fund to establish the Tourism Transformation Fund, specifically designed to support black, youth and women-owned tourism enterprises. This initiative offers a valuable model for other African nations seeking to broaden participation in their own tourism economies, particularly as investors increasingly look for inclusive growth stories on the continent.
The statistics shared by the Deputy Minister paint a revealing picture of the sector. Women make up approximately 70% of the tourism workforce, yet remain disproportionately concentrated in service and entry-level roles. Ownership of larger tourism businesses by women, she acknowledged, is growing at a frustratingly slow pace. For years, the Women in Tourism Programme has championed the principles of ensuring women are respected, recognised, represented and rewarded. While these values remain relevant, Sotyu believes the next chapter must focus firmly on economic power.
Her ambition is clear: women should not merely participate in tourism but must own, grow, supply and lead tourism businesses. This vision extends beyond South Africa's borders and speaks directly to trends unfolding across sub-Saharan Africa, where female entrepreneurship is emerging as a defining force in the future of hospitality, tour operations and destination management.
Sotyu acknowledged the North West Women in Tourism Chapter and its leadership, urging members to continue building the platform as a space for connection, knowledge-sharing, partnership-building and enterprise growth. As Africa's travel industry looks towards the coming years, initiatives that combine digital transformation, community benefit and female economic empowerment are likely to define which destinations thrive and which fall behind. For travel professionals across the continent, South Africa's approach this Tourism Month offers both inspiration and a practical framework worth watching closely.
