Key executive positions remain vacant at SA Tourism.
Recent travel statistics from the National Department of Tourism suggest that several vacant executive positions at its marketing agency, South African Tourism (SA Tourism), are impacting performance as international travel levels struggle to return to pre-Covid levels.
SA Tourism was established to market the country as a premier destination internationally and domestically. However, the agency has recently been marked by dismissals and resignations among decision-makers.
Currently, the CEO remains suspended; the acting CEO, chief operations officer (COO), and chief marketing officer (CMO) have resigned; and the board is serving in an interim capacity. But the agency said it has made appointments in the executive to strengthen governance and oversight.
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Chaos at SA Tourism
Thandiwe Mathibela, Global Manager: PR, Communications and Stakeholder Relations at SA Tourism, told The Citizen that the agency reassures stakeholders that it is committed to fulfilling its mandate to promote, market, and develop South Africa as a premier international and domestic tourism destination.
This comes as the department prepares to host the 2026 editions of Meetings Africa and Africa’s Travel Indaba. SA Tourism falls under the Department of Tourism.
When asked about the vacancies at the executive level, she said, “SA Tourism has appointed a Chief Financial Officer and a Chief Audit Executive, both in permanent positions, reinforcing a strong focus on financial management and internal control functions.”
SA Tourism to get new CMO
Mathibela confirmed that its COO and CMO have resigned, while the CEO, Nombulelo Guliwe, remains suspended. Guliwe was suspended by the previous SA Tourism Board, which has been dissolved. However, she did not confirm whether acting CEO Darryl Erasmus has resigned.
Guliwe will soon learn her fate at the agency as the finalisation of her disciplinary process is pending.
It is understood that she was suspended on allegations of misconduct. However, Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille has previously labelled the suspension unlawful because, at the time, the board did not have a chairperson following the resignation of Professor Gregory Davids.
“This means, the board in its current form is not properly constituted to take such a resolution,” said De Lille.
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Who is making decisions?
SA Tourism is a marketing agency, making the CMO position vital. So if there is no chief marketing officer, who is making the marketing decisions?
However, the positions of COO and CMO are expected to be filled soon, the minister said earlier this week during a media briefing on travel statistics.
“The SA Tourism board continues to prioritise governance and oversight while supporting management in strengthening operational continuity and delivery,” said Mathibela.
“Work is underway to expedite the filling of the recently vacant executive positions in accordance with governance processes and approved recruitment frameworks.”
SA Tourism falling apart?
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is of the view that SA Tourism is collapsing, which has prompted them to write to the chairperson of the portfolio committee requesting that De Lille and SA Tourism appear before parliament to account for the ongoing governance collapse at the entity.
“The situation has been further worsened by the resignation of Acting CEO Darryl Erasmus, effective 13 February,” said Haseena Ismail, DA spokesperson on Tourism.
“Erasmus was serving in an acting capacity while the suspended CEO Guliwe continues to receive a salary as her disciplinary process remains unresolved.
“These failures are already evident in practice. Industry stakeholders have raised serious concerns about the planning and execution of Meetings Africa, one of South Africa’s flagship tourism trade events, citing operational weaknesses and declining confidence.”
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Dysfunctional organisation
Moneyweb reported that Tourism Business Council of SA (TBCSA) and the Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (Satsa) are two industry stakeholders that believe there is chaos at the agency.
Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, CEO of TBCSA said SA Tourism receives a lot of money to market SA to international markets, but we are still not back to pre-Covid levels in terms of overseas arrivals.
David Frost, CEO of Satsa, raised the issue of the levy collected from the private sector, which is handed over at the end of every year. However, this has not been done since 2022 because the agency has received qualified audits since then.
“We are now dealing with an organisation that is dysfunctional at best and in crisis at worst,” said Frost.
Travel levels
De Lille announced travel stats earlier in the week. She reaffirmed that tourism is a key driver of economic growth, investment, and job creation in the country.
“Between January and December 2025, South Africa welcomed 10.48 million international (including visitors from Africa and the rest of the world) arrivals, a 17.6% increase compared to 2024 and the highest number of arrivals on record,” she said.
“This performance confirms tourism’s growing contribution to the economy.” SA was named Best Destination: Africa 2025 by the Travel Weekly Reader’s Choice Awards.
According to the minister, this achievement reflects deliberate policy choices, focused implementation, and strong collaboration between the government and the private sector.
No recovery
Tshivhengwa highlighted that travel levels are not getting back to pre-covid. “If you look at overseas arrivals from outside Africa, in 2019 we had 2.6 million visitors, and last year this figure was just 2.39 million, which means we are not fully recovered from the Covid crisis.”
“We’re at 92% of pre-Covid levels, while other destinations in Africa have sailed past 2019 levels to hit new records. We’re a long way from that.”
Morocco and Egypt have seen tourism numbers soar past pre-Covid levels, reporting 40-50% growth over 2019. This is due to improved air connectivity, marketing and better packaging of key attractions.
Kenya, too, reported strong growth in tourism numbers over the last two years, achieving 134% of pre-Covid levels by 2024.
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