by Ifeanyi Emmanuel
According to Obed Bapela, deputy chairperson of the ANC International Relations Committee, this year the combined GDP of the BRICS countries will exceed that of the G7 countries for the first time.
In an interview on Monday, May 15, with Newzroom Afrika, he said that South Africa had to take into account the growth of BRICS when considering its economic interests.
He was responding to a question concerning the news that Russian president Putin had ruled out a virtual appearance at the BRICS conference, hosted by South Africa, scheduled for August 22.
The question to Bapela was: Was the ANC putting the South African economy in jeopardy because of its sentimental links to the old Soviet Union?
Bapela replied that it was up to Europe and the USA to do what they wanted, but when it came to our economic future, BRICS was in growth mode.
That attitude could be the death knell of the tourism industry.
The ANC needs to be made aware of this before the party provokes a response that cripples the one industry that is in a position to shine.
The statistic that best describes the dependence of our tourism sector on Europe and the USA can be found by looking at air access. Direct non-stop flights are the lifeblood of inter-continental tourism.
If the ANC thinks it can switch overnight to BRICS countries as a replacement for tourists from Europe and the USA, its leaders need to consider not only that SAA no longer has inter-continental routes, but also that not one Brics partner country has an airline flying into South Africa.
In August, the month that Putin is scheduled to arrive, it is low season and yet at least 352 widebody aircraft will arrive from Europe and 100 from the USA. That is just arrivals into Jo’burg and Cape Town, and this excludes the high season’s inbound seasonal flights from Europe.
The Department of Statistics’ latest tourism figures show that the combined numbers of BRICS residents touring South Africa in March this year was 10 934. That was 9% of the 120 004 visitors from Europe alone.
Someone needs to explain this to the ANC – quickly.
