Edition September 2026

Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille wants South Africans exploring their own backyard this September, and she is betting AI and social media will get them there.

That is how Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille framed the shift now reshaping how South Africans travel, speaking at the launch of Tourism Month in Durban recently.

A destination spotted on TikTok. A travel creator’s video that turns an unfamiliar town into a must-visit. “This is the tourism environment in which we now operate,” De Lille said, pointing to how fundamentally the way people discover travel has changed.

This September, that shift is being put to work for domestic tourism, one of the foundations, De Lille argued, of a resilient tourism economy. Sho’t Left Travel Week runs from 7 to 13 September, offering exclusive discounts and packages to make travel more affordable. It is joined by South African National Parks Week, giving domestic day visitors free entry and various provincial Mahala Weeks aimed at widening access further.

“You do not always need to cross an ocean to discover something extraordinary,” De Lille said. “Sometimes you need to cross a provincial border. Sometimes you need to leave the highway and turn into that small town you normally drive past. And sometimes there is an extraordinary tourism experience just a few kilometres from your own home that you have never visited.”

Tourism Month builds toward World Tourism Day on 27 September, marked globally under the theme, “Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Redesign Tourism.” South Africa has localised it as “Growing South Africa’s Tourism Sector in the Digital Era,” a theme the Department of Tourism says reflects work already underway: using digital tools and AI to sharpen visitor experience, destination management and operational efficiency, while making tourism more sustainable and inclusive.

Embracing new technology

Two initiatives already show what that looks like in practice. The OR Tambo International Airport Smart Visitor Information Centre gives travellers seamless digital access to tourism information, while the Tourism Complaints Office lets tourists lodge and track complaints entirely online.

The Department will also launch a tourism hackathon during the month, inviting young innovators to build technology-driven solutions for the sector.

“AI is already influencing how travellers search for destinations, develop itineraries, compare experiences, translate information and make travel decisions,” said the Minister.

That transformation, she added, is a shared responsibility, one South Africa needs to harness deliberately to strengthen its tourism economy and open up opportunity.

“Data and insights tell us that travellers are increasingly open to technologies such as AI-powered applications that enable greater independence and personalisation of trips.” For domestic tourism, she said, that matters immensely, a video filmed on a Sho’t Left trip with a small Limpopo tour operator could just as easily reach a family in Germany or India.

“Imagine technology helping a traveller build an itinerary that takes them beyond our traditional attractions and introduces them to smaller communities and emerging destinations,” she said. “That is when technology becomes more than an innovation. It becomes economic inclusion.”

Growing numbers

The numbers back the momentum. From January to June 2026, South Africans took 21.2 million overnight trips, up 4% on the same period last year. Holiday trips specifically rose 36%, to 5.2 million, even as overall spend remained down.

For De Lille, those figures underline exactly why domestic tourism matters and why she wants even more South Africans exploring their own country this month.

Tourism, she said, gives communities a way to draw real economic value from their culture, heritage, natural assets, food, creativity and hospitality, connecting different parts of the economy in a way few other sectors can.

“Our journey can therefore support many livelihoods. Importantly, we must ensure that tourism creates opportunities for more young people, women, entrepreneurs and SMMEs.” She was clear that digital transformation cannot just serve the biggest players. Technology should lower barriers to entry, not raise new ones.

Tourism may begin at home, but it does not end there. At its core, it is about people, those who travel, those who welcome them and the communities that share their stories, culture and experiences.

“Even as we embrace technology, AI and a rapidly changing digital landscape,” De Lille said, “there is something we must never lose sight of. Tourism remains a human business.”

More than travel

Tourism Month runs as a national campaign across all nine provinces, each showcasing its own attractions. This year, Limpopo takes the spotlight as the province of focus. Beyond travel itself, the month is about creating jobs, backing entrepreneurs, preserving heritage, strengthening communities, and building national pride.

Every journey adds up to something bigger. Take a Sho’t Left this month and find the hidden gems closer to home than you think. ❖