South Africa Wellness Hubs

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Wellness Hub South Africa has for decades been one of the premier global tourism destinations with annual arrivals exceeding the 6million mark in 2007. Approximately 1million of these visitors came from Europe, 220,000 from the US, 155,000 from Asia with the bulk of the remaining visitors came from Africa in general and sub-Saharan Africa in particular.

What makes Wellness Hub South Africa stand out head and shoulders above established and emerging wellness hubs in Africa and elsewhere? Is it the scenic country with varied panoplies of breathtaking landscapes along the coastal regions and the majestic inland mountains, resorts and game lodges on the savannah plataeu?

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Or, is it the culturally fascinating travel destination representing a melting pot of African, European and Asian cultures which crystallized over a century in Nelson Mandela’s vision of a rainbow nation? Or, is it may be even the much talked about, favourable exchange rate with the rand currency, which makes it possible for visitors to enjoy a holiday of a lifetime at a fraction of its cost in Europe, North America and Asia? Your guess would be as good as mine.

My take is that the figure of the approximately 4,5 million  annual African arrivals provides more than a clue about the reasons behind the emergence of South Africa as the premier medical tourism hub on the African continent and amongst the best in the world. A closure examination of the statistics show that the bulk of the medical wellness tourist are the business and social elite from various African countries and the european and asian expatriates posted as diplimats or business persons in sub-saharan african. This is to be expected due to the under funded public health infrastructure in these countries.

However, an equally important portion of the African visitors is accounted for by American, European and Asian expatriates deployed in the mining, trading, financial services and the diplomatic sector in sub-Saharan African countries. They have always viewed and continue to regard Wellness in Hub South Africa as their nearest value for money choice when it comes to affordable world class healthcare, education and leisure. The infrastructure and services standards are second to none and the exchange rate offers an unbeatable advantage.

One of the driving forces behind the success of Wellness Hub South Africa is without doubt the global network of South African Tourism Offices with its current signature advertising campaign: “South Africa – It’s Possible”. Other equally important driving forces are the numerous members of the South African Travel, Hospitality and Wellness Trade and most notably, South African Airways, the country’s flagship international carrier. As the company CEO, Khaya Ngqula said in a recent interview: “SAA fully supports the drive from the alliance to further build on its presence in Africa,” he said. “As SAA, we see our primary role in the Star Alliance network as bringing customers from around the world to Johannesburg, the financial capital of the continent, and then taking them into the rest of Africa.”

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