Building the next phase of travel on clarity and collaboration 

Johannesburg – 12 February 2025: As we enter 2026, Southern Africa’s travel industry stands on remarkably strong ground. Finalised 2025 tourism data shows that international arrivals into South Africa surpassed 10 million for the first time, with total inbound visitor numbers up significantly over 2024. Domestic tourism also continues its upward trajectory, contributing more than ZAR 445 billion in local spending and supporting nearly 1.9 million jobs, a testament to both demand resilience and the sector’s wider socioeconomic value. (Source: WTTC, South African Government Tourism Reports) 

Globally, the travel market continues to re-expand, with industry forecasts projecting overall travel and tourism output to exceed USD 1.6 trillion in 2026, and with sustained expansion expected through the rest of this decade as consumer confidence and cross-border mobility further normalise. (Source: Global Travel Market Forecasts 2025–2030) 

These numbers reflect a market in transition, where demand is strong, but the way travellers discover, compare and ultimately book their journeys is shifting in fundamental ways. 

Today’s traveller is informed, value-sensitive and digitally connected. They expect transparency in pricing, flexibility in options, and crucially, confidence in the expertise that helps them make decisions. For complex, multi-stage and cross-border travel, this expectation turns the spotlight squarely back on travel agents as essential guides in the booking journey. 

Yet the operating environment that agents work within is evolving. Simply put, access is no longer enough. Agents need clarity, in content, in retailing tools, and in how they communicate value to customers who arrive at conversations already shaped by digital discovery. 

“For us in Southern Africa, relationships are the bedrock of how travel is bought and sold,” says Bryan Rufener, Country Lead for Travelport Southern Africa.

“Trust here is built over time, between agents, operators, airlines and travellers. When those relationships work well, they don’t just support businesses; they strengthen tourism growth and contribute meaningfully to broader national economic objectives.”

South Africa’s travel industry has long recognised its role as a key economic contributor. Tourism touches multiple sectors, from hospitality and transport to cultural attractions and retail, making stability and growth vital not just for tourism businesses themselves, but for the national economy and the communities it supports. 

In this context, the operator’s role is evolving from being primarily a content aggregator to becoming a clarity enabler, helping agents manage complexity, explain value and deliver confidence at every stage of the transaction. This evolution requires not only robust technology, but also deep understanding of local market nuance and the practical realities agents face day-to-day. 

Globally, Travelport has grounded its strategy in this principle: support agents through transformation, not sideline them. Its investments in richer content, modern retailing capability and consistent servicing are designed to align with agents’ workflows — offering capability without unnecessary disruption. 

“In Southern Africa, our role is to help translate global best practice into outcomes that make sense locally,” says Darren Osbourn, owner of Travelport Southern Africa.

“We work with agents to strengthen operations, cascading what works globally into areas that add real value here, rather than importing complexity for its own sake. It’s about making the daily work of selling travel smoother, clearer and more profitable.”

This emphasis on pragmatic value is a reflection of how Southern African travel both operates and grows. The industry’s strength lies not in one-off spikes in demand, but in sustained confidence, consistent delivery and collaborative ecosystems where agents, operators, airlines and partners work in alignment rather than isolation. 

As the sector heads deeper into 2026, the defining characteristics of success will not be noise or novelty. They will be clarity in offer, confidence in service and collaboration across the network. These are the conditions that help travellers convert inspiration into commitment, and that help agents retain relevance in a world that often over-indexes on automation at the expense of human judgement. 

For Travelport Southern Africa, the path forward is clear: invest in relationships, reduce unnecessary complexity and support agents in a way that helps them deliver what the modern traveller now expects — certainty, simplicity and trusted guidance. 

In a region defined by rich cultural diversity and unique travel experiences, clarity and confidence are not simply competitive advantages but are the foundation for enduring growth.