Nelson Mandela Bay needs to claim its share of tourism’s ‘low-hanging fruit’

In a metro that we believe is South Africa’s most fixable, tourism stands out as arguably the most immediately fixable sector to generate economic growth and create employment.

The advantages that position Nelson Mandela Bay as the “Bay of Opportunity” for investment also support tourism growth.

These include its strategic coastal location with two ports, a scenic 40km coastline featuring Blue Flag beaches, a mild climate with around 300 days of sunshine a year, rich biodiversity spanning five biomes in one city, and a diverse cultural and heritage offering – all within a compact and accessible metropolitan area.

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Known, but probably not widely enough, as the bottlenose dolphin capital of the world, the place where the sardine-run starts – which is the greatest mass migration event around the globe and home to half of the world’s African penguins.

Nelson Mandela Bay plays a key linking role as gateway to the Garden Route as well as to the Karoo, and to the wider Eastern Cape with malaria-free Big Five game reserves, spectacular natural beauty and unspoilt wilderness, historical sites and small towns, and diverse opportunities for adventure and cultural experiences.

The region not only holds great value for the tourist as an affordable destination, but also offers incredible natural beauty and outdoor experiences.

Equally significant is that all of these tourism assets are already here and we do not need to invest billions in creating attractions.

According to StatsSA, tourism employs almost a million people, representing one in 18 jobs in South Africa, and created over 180 000 new jobs in 2024.

The sector contributed 4.9% (R361.7 billion) of GDP in 2024, larger than utilities, agriculture or construction.

‘Critical catalyst’ 

With an estimated job multiplier of 2.5, tourism is a critical catalyst for economic development, job creation, and inclusive growth.

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Beyond its direct contribution to visitor spending, tourism stimulates a wide range of interconnected industries including hospitality, transport, retail, food and beverage, entertainment, events, arts and culture, real estate, and small business development.

Its extensive value chain means that investment in stimulating tourism growth has a multiplier effect across the broader economy, supporting both formal and informal enterprises while creating opportunities for youth, women, entrepreneurs, and local communities.

Tourism not only directly generates and multiplies revenue and employment in the local economy, but has long-term potential impact in showcasing the business and investment potential of the destination.

While there are no hard statistics to demonstrate tourism directly translating into business investment, plenty of anecdotal evidence exists of people who visited the country as tourists returning to invest in property or a local business, establishing a branch of their company here, or becoming an importer of a South African product into their home country.

This is a real economic spin-off of tourism, that generates local business growth and employment.

Small businesses and entrepreneurs in particular are beneficiaries of tourism growth that leads to business growth and spins into job creation – the airport shuttle that is able to buy an additional vehicle, the guesthouse-owner that can build on additional rooms or buy a neighbouring property, for example.

Despite the clear economic opportunities presented by tourism and the advantages that the bay has, the metro has not recovered to pre-pandemic tourism levels – unlike the national figures and especially in the Western Cape, which show strong recovery.

Foreign vs local tourists

In the 2024/25 financial year, the municipality recorded 222 072 foreign tourist arrivals and about 1.2 million domestic tourists, still trailing behind the three million visitors recorded in 2019.

The overall direct contribution of tourism to the local economy was estimated at R6.2 billion 2024, decreasing year-on-year from R7.57 billion despite stronger visitor numbers.

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This underperformance is driven by a combination of factors that go beyond constraints on consumer spending – including infrastructure deterioration, safety and security concerns, destination management challenges, under-leveraged tourism assets, and the absence of integrated tourism packages capable of increasing visitor arrivals, length of stay, and tourism spend.

So-called catalytic projects to create a “must-visit” attraction in Nelson Mandela Bay have been debated, proposed, shelved, stalled, and debated again over decades – a waterfront for the Port of PE, a giant Nelson Mandela statue, large-scale coastal eco-tourism and adventure park developments, among the examples.

While these and other ambitious ideas certainly have potential, they require political will that lasts beyond any current administration in power, multi-stakeholder unified vision and coordinated action, the buy-in of local residents as well as state-owned entities such as Transnet, and long-term investment commitments.

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These are not easy to achieve in an environment of fractured, unstable political leadership and competing agendas, and their potential value is in the short-term disadvantaged by the lack of a surrounding, enabling environment for tourism.

Attractive destination for events 

Meanwhile, the bay is growing as an attractive destination for international business and outdoor events, last year hosting both SA Automotive Week and the Naacam Show and earlier this month the national congress of the Agricultural Business Chamber, or AgBiz.

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The metro has hosted the Ironman Africa Championship for the past 20 years, and will host the Lifesaving World Championships in November, expected to attract 6 000 competitors and delegates.

Skal International will host its 2026 World Congress in the Bay at the end of September, which is expected to attract approximately 600 travel and tourism professionals from around the globe.

Six games in the 2027 Men’s Cricket World Cup will be played at the metro’s historic St George’s Park cricket ground, in itself a sporting tourist attraction, having hosted the first international cricket Test on South African soil in 1889 and SA’s first rugby Test in 1891.

And later this month the Springboks will take on the Barbarians in front of a packed audience at the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium.

Hosting events of this nature requires more than natural beauty and a favourable climate.

These are largely business, not sentimental, decisions that demand transport accessibility, accommodation capacity, reliable infrastructure, public spaces that are clean, safe and well maintained, as well as additional, quality tourism experiences that will attract participants.

The influx of visitors that these major events bring boosts temporary or casual employment and incomes in the hospitality sector, but the long-term potential is for business expansion as a result of these temporary boosts, which translates into greater employment.

Cruise tourism opportunities

Nelson Mandela Bay is also a growing stop-over port for cruise liners, with more than 34 passenger vessels docking in the current season, carrying approximately 60 000 passengers, expected to contribute about R100 million to the local economy.

While these passengers provide a welcome boost to local restaurants, tourist attractions and nearby game reserves, their first sight of the port and the city is dominated by manganese ore dumps, litter and dirt, and decaying heritage buildings.

There is much more that could be done – much of it simple fixes – to ensure an attractive and memorable experience and capitalise further on the opportunities that this type of tourism presents.

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Globally, tourism remains a resilient sector with travellers’ appetite to explore unfamiliar places and engage in cultural experiences undimmed by rising costs and uncertainty linked to regions in conflict.

These trends present a significant opportunity for regions and cities with untapped tourism assets, strategic geographic positioning (accessible on travel routes and distanced from conflict zones), and differentiated offerings to strengthen destination competitiveness, attract visitors, stimulate investment, and unlock broader economic value.

Untapped tourism assets 

We believe Nelson Mandela Bay holds that potential of untapped tourism assets, which is why the NMB Business Chamber is working to establish a Tourism Development Desk specifically focused on the sector’s economic development role.

The intention is not to replicate the already-fragmented strands and diverse interests across travel, tourism, hospitality, conservation, eco-tourism, but rather to bring them together with a business focus and what is needed to support tourism’s economic growth and job creation in the metro.

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In various global rankings, South Africa consistently ranks in the world’s top 10 favourite countries to visit, and the leading tourism destination in Africa, for example SA was rated 4^th in the 2025 The Telegraph Travel Awards.

Specific destinations such as the Kruger National Park, Cape Town, the winelands and heritage of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, as well as the Garden Route, contribute to SA’s high rankings.

It is time for Nelson Mandela Bay to claim its share.

While there are obstacles to growing tourism numbers, they are generally not insurmountable.

Training can improve service quality, roads and accommodation can be built to improve access to remote destinations, heritage sites can be maintained, beaches can be cleaned, potholes and infrastructure can be fixed.

Achieving this need not wait for decisions on massive projects, but rather by focusing on the “low-hanging fruit” that can be harvested – the immediate, small changes that will make a large, long-term difference.

Denise van Huyssteen is CEO of the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber.