Tourvest upbeat about growth prospects

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South African operator Tourvest this week reported a 43% increase in sales from inbound tourists in the financial quarter ended September 30

Speaking at the Tourvest annual general meeting in Johannesburg, ceo Carol Scott said she expected the group to experience its best ever financial year. She said that although official government tourism statistics were not yet available for this period "I think the whole industry was up" and the picture was continuing to look good based on advance bookings. "The current quarter is looking very positive," she said.

In addition to the boost to its duty-free operations including the company's involvement in Big Five Duty Free, a number of Tourvest's other businesses are also benefiting from rising tourism. These include inbound and outbound package tours, inflight sales onboard South African Airways, Air Namibia, Inter Air and Kenyan Airways, American Express currency bureaux and a total 77 travel-retail outlets such as jewellery and souvenir stores. Last year retail accounted for 39% of Tourvest's R3.1bn ($307m) total sales and 53% of R169.3m ($16.8m) pre-tax income.

"All of our companies get a spin-off," Scott said adding that outbound tourism was also growing with the strengthening of the rand. She also highlighted the development of new products for the local market such as cruises and internal holidays.

The figures appear to confirm claims that South Africa is winning business from other destinations and tourism is growing in its importance to national development. According to World Tourism Organization the country recently moved up the ranks of the world's leading destinations, from position 52 to its current ranking at number 25.