The country's reputation as a world-class destination would be further entrenched after the Fifa World Cup, Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk has told MPs.
Delivering his budget vote speech in Parliament in Cape Town this week, Van Schalkwyk said the World Cup would leave a tangible and lasting tourism legacy in South Africa.
He was confident that the tourism industry would also benefit from the powerful word-of-mouth marketing when soccer fans returned home as ambassadors and advocates for South Africa.
"Long after the whistle is blown at the last match, we will continue to reap the rewards of investments in this tournament which have catalysed huge developments," he said.
He said the local tourism industry outperformed world trends in 2009, with a growth of 3.6% in foreign arrivals with a total of more than 9.9-million foreign arrivals to the country compared to about 9.6-million in 2008. This increase represented a 7.4% contribution to gross domestic product (GDP).
The total foreign direct spend in 2009 grew by 7% compared to 2008 to R79.4-billion.
"This is a tremendous feather in the cap of the industry in a time when all other tourism markets worldwide were in a slump," Van Schalkwyk said.