Minister of Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk announced plans to grow and expand INDABA into a pan-African trade platform at the opening ceremony of INDABA 2013.

The nine finalists – one from each province – in the 2013 Emerging Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year Awards (ETEYA) competition have been announced.

The recent summer season in Cape Town – December 2012 to March 2013 – saw an increase in tourist arrivals of between 6% and 8% compared with the same period in 2011/12.

South African Tourism’s landmark ‘What’s Your BIG 5?’ campaign debuted on NBC’s Apprentice series, with South Africa becoming the first-ever travel destination featured on the hit show.

Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa is changing its name to Fair Trade Tourism. The name change signifies the NGO’s intention to become a regional responsible tourism certification programme.

The Sandton Convention Centre has been reviewing its position in the South African and global markets with a view to pursuing new levels of excellence and remaining relevant in the global business-events environment.

A delegation from Cape Town Tourism, Wesgro (the destination marketing and trade promotion agency for the Western Cape) and the City of Cape Town has returned from ITB Berlin 2013 with fresh ideas on how to further develop and market Cape Town’s and the Western Cape’s tourism offering.

With the launch of Africa App Quest, the challenge is on for talented developers across sub-Saharan Africa to build a home-grown travel app to capitalise on the continent’s growing popularity as a tourist destination.

The Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory is to open its doors to the public in August this year.