G20 Summit | Tourism is certainly part of the declaration: De Lille

The article is a transcript of an interview with South Africa's Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille, conducted outside the media center during the G20 Summit preparations in 2025, hosted by South Africa. The discussion focuses on tourism's prominent role in the G20 working groups and the resulting declaration. Key points include commitments from G20 countries to collaborate on innovation, investment, improved air access, and visa reforms to enhance seamless travel. Minister de Lille expresses satisfaction with tourism's high priority, noting South Africa's booming sector: hotels are overflowing due to over 135 working group and ministerial meetings, with a growth of more than 1 million tourists in the past nine months, contributing 8.8% to GDP and 1.6 million jobs. She highlights a tourism growth partnership with the private sector to train and retain semi-skilled and unskilled youth, ensuring seasonal summit jobs extend into the summer season. Addressing geopolitical tensions with the US, de Lille states no negative impact on tourism; instead, US visitors have surpassed the UK as the top market, with fully booked flights from Washington, Newark, Cape Town, and Johannesburg, and calls for more frequencies. Sustainable tourism and eco-tourism are emphasized in the declaration, balancing environmental protection with attracting visitors, aiming to make it the norm as the sector shifts from recovery to growth. Seamless mobility is advanced through upcoming electronic visa authorizations for markets like China, India, Indonesia, and Mexico, alongside promoting domestic tourism and attractions via the G20 website to encourage repeat visits and boost economic contributions.