President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday that government will use the upcoming G20 summit to profile and actively promote South Africa as a tourism destination of choice, saying the tourism sector has significant potential. South Africa assumed the G20 Presidency on December 1, 2024 and will host the G20 Leaders’ Summit later this year. Ramaphosa wrote in his weekly letter to the nation that government is scaling up a range of tourism promotion strategies to restore inbound tourism figures to pre-pandemic levels. He said these strategies included an improved tourism visa regime, streamlining the tour operator licence process, increased investment in tourism infrastructure and services, and improving safety and security at tourism sites. “Following a slump in tourism numbers because of the Covid-19 pandemic, inbound tourism is on the rise. In 2023, South Africa recorded around 8.5-million international tourist arrivals. These visitors spent over R95-billion,” he said.