TOURISM SECTOR MASTER PLAN RESEARCH REPORT

The report assesses the South African tourism sector's employment landscape, highlighting the severe job losses caused by Covid-19 and the systemic barriers to inclusive growth. It argues that the sector is dominated by small, often informal businesses and white-owned enterprises, leading to precarious working conditions for the predominantly Black, female, and youth workforce. The document critiques the government's recovery efforts, such as the Tourism Relief Fund and the Tourism Sector Recovery Plan, for lacking a 'decent work' framing and insufficient fiscal support. It recommends a 'whole of government' approach, including visa reform, domestic market stimulation, and a just transition to a green economy, to ensure a more sustainable and inclusive recovery.

• South Africa experienced more severe tourism job losses during the pandemic than competitor destinations. In 2020, the country lost 32.4% of its total travel and tourism jobs, estimated at 473,000 direct, indirect, and induced jobs, which is higher than the losses in Australia and Thailand.
• The tourism sector is characterised by high levels of informality and small-scale operations, with SMMEs estimated to constitute approximately 90% of all tourism businesses in South Africa.
• Employment in the sector is skewed toward marginalised groups, with Black African South Africans holding 76% of total jobs in 2019, though these roles were typically junior and less-skilled. Women held nearly 40% of jobs, often in poorly paid roles.
• Transformation in the sector is slow, with white-owned and managed businesses continuing to dominate. Less than 50% of enterprises in accommodation, hospitality, and travel met the 30% Black-ownership target, and only 11% had Black female executives.
• The government's Tourism Relief Fund (TRF) was insufficient for the sector's scale, providing R200 million in grants. Over 3,000 applicants could not be paid out, and the fund did not use the number of employees as a screening criterion.
• The Tourism Sector Recovery Plan (TSRP), adopted in April 2021, is criticised for lacking a 'decent work' framing and failing to explicitly engage labour during its development. None of its seven strategic interventions directly support job retention.
• Digital platforms like Airbnb and Uber have increased informality and created tenuous self-employment, potentially replacing protected formal jobs with unprotected ad hoc work.
• The accommodation and food and beverage industries were the hardest hit by job and earnings losses. Between 60,000 and 70,000 direct jobs were lost in these two sectors since the onset of Covid-19.
• Air transport was severely impacted, with approximately 10,000 jobs lost, representing nearly half of the total jobs in that subsector.

APA

Rivett-Carnac, K., & Selman, C.-L. (2022). TOURISM SECTOR MASTER PLAN RESEARCH REPORT. Institute for Economic Justice. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/IEJ_tourism-sector-research-report_november-2022.pdf

Chicago

Rivett-Carnac, Kate, and Cheryl-Lyn Selman. TOURISM SECTOR MASTER PLAN RESEARCH REPORT. Institute for Economic Justice, 2022. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/IEJ_tourism-sector-research-report_november-2022.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Rivett-Carnac |first1=Kate |last2=Selman |first2=Cheryl-Lyn |title=TOURISM SECTOR MASTER PLAN RESEARCH REPORT |publisher=Institute for Economic Justice |date=October 2022 |url=https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/IEJ_tourism-sector-research-report_november-2022.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rivettcarnac2022tourism, author = {Rivett-Carnac, Kate and Selman, Cheryl-Lyn}, title = {{TOURISM SECTOR MASTER PLAN RESEARCH REPORT}}, institution = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2022}, month = oct, url = {https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/IEJ_tourism-sector-research-report_november-2022.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }