President Ramaphosa made it clear in his SONA 2019 speech that South Africa is ready to take advantage of technology in order to make the economy grow and create jobs, specifically in the travel industry.
He stated that the government's highest priority this year will be the introduction of a world-class e-Visa regime.
This, combined with enhanced destination marketing and putting measures in place to strengthen tourism safety, will create the conditions for the growth in tourism, which lead to job creation and other opportunities.
At SONA 2019 he spoke about the huge potential that exists for the expansion of the tourism sector and how over the past year South African saw 10 million tourists visit.
President Ramaphosa intends to raise this to 21 million by 2030, targeting the largest and fastest growing markets of India and China, as well as the rest of Africa.
He called on all South Africans to get the economy working again by making it their own cause, as the entire nation that will benefit if we succeed.
The president added that in addition to direct jobs, the travel industry could generate as many as 2 million more jobs in food and agriculture, construction, transport, retail, and the creative and cultural industries by 2030 and he plans to deepen the partnership between government and business to realise this vision.
He added, "Our beautiful country, South Africa has one of the world’s longest coastlines spanning 3,000 km around the contours of our country from the east to the west."