Government was pleased to see the considerable investment by the public and the private sectors in the tourism industry starting to pay off, President Jacob Zuma said on Friday.

His remarks were in response to Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk having announced that tourist arrivals in South Africa between January and October 2012 increased by 10.4% to 7.54-million, compared with 6.83-million tourists for the same period in 2011.

The New Growth Path – an economic strategy under the umbrella of the National Development Plan – identified tourism as one of the country’s top six job drivers.

“We congratulate the tourism sectors on this achievement,” said Zuma.

He added that the upcoming Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, or Brics, Summit, to be held in Durban later this month, was another significant marketing opportunity for the country, and urged tour operators and citizens to use this opportunity to market the country to further boost the economy and create jobs.

Foreign direct spend from international tourists between January and September 2012 amounted to R53.4-billion.

Meanwhile, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) reported that travel receipts increased during the second quarter of 2012, rising by R5-billion to R83.5-billion – a record high – and exceeding the level of travel receipts recorded during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

“Spending by nonresident visitors in South Africa rose for the fifth consecutive quarter in the second quarter of 2012, assisting in the containment of the overall deficit on the services account,” SARB said in a statement.

South Africa had, over the next five years, secured over 200 international conferences, which were expected to attract some 300 000 delegates and provide an economic boost of more than R1.6-billion for the economy.

In 2011, according to a departure survey, the country received 392 000 business travellers, of whom 140 000 were pure meetings,conference and events delegates.

Meanwhile, of the 7.54-million tourists that visited the country between January to October, 204 247 of these were from Germany – representing an increase of 12.2% compared with the corresponding period in 2011.

“Germany is one of the key traditional overseas markets for travel to South Africa, after the US and the UK,” said the Presidency.

Encouragingly, growth from emerging markets was also impressive, with Asian tourist arrivals growing by 36.9% to the end of September, driven by growth of 63.5% from China and 18.3% from India.

African tourist arrivals were also tracking well, growing by some 8.7% overall, with 25.5% growth from Angola and 17.9% growth from Nigeria.