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The Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) has noted and welcomes the new Board appointments at South African Airways (SAA). This includes the appointment of former tourism minister and tourism investment envoy, Mr Derek Hanekom as chairman of the board. Hanekom has previously displayed an impeccable record of clean governance and a passion for tourism in South Africa.

SAA plays a significant role in South Africa’s aviation and tourism sectors. Therefore, it is consequential and fills us with hope that the addition of new members to the Board will go a long way to solidify the work of improving operations and relaunching regional, and long-haul routes.

A fully functional SAA benefits the country’s tourism sector locally and internationally. It is through airlines that visitors to the country first experience our hospitality. The national carrier’s full recovery will help to address some of the undersupply challenges we have seen in the local airline space over the last two years.

TBCSA Board chairman, Blacky Komani in welcoming the new board appointments says, “travel and tourism are enabled in large part by aviation. As a sector, we hope to attract 21 million arrivals in South Africa by 2030. To achieve that, we need connectivity. The more stable airlines we have operating in the country, the quicker we’ll realise our tourism sector recovery plan of attracting these travelers”.

TBCSA hopes that through this new board we will be able to forge a stronger working relationship with the tourism sector to promote South Africa as a key travel and tourism destination.

Issued by the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA)