South African Tourism recognised an opportunity to enhance its decision-making capabilities by gaining a more holistic, data-driven view of its tourism sector.
The opportunity
A smarter approach to tourism insights
In an ever-evolving global tourism landscape, South African Tourism recognised an opportunity to enhance its decision-making capabilities by gaining a more holistic, data-driven view of its tourism sector. While various databases already existed, these operated in in isolation—often outdated and lacked the depth needed to drive to tale strategic growth to the next level.
And towards ensuring sustainable tourism development, optimise marketing efforts, and unlock new opportunities, South Africa sought a solution that would bring together comprehensive, real-time insights into the sector’s full potential.
Key areas for growth and improvement
As a learning organisation, South African Tourism continuously seeks ways to refine its approach, making data more accessible, actionable, and insightful. Key areas identified for transformation included:
- Unlocking regional potential with structured data
Understanding tourism supply across all provinces—including lesser-known regions—was crucial. By integrating structured data, South Africa could better highlight untapped areas, attract investment, and promote a diverse range of destinations. - Enhancing business event tracking
Traditional methods of assessing business events relied heavily on manual surveys and hotel data, and a long data collection period. A more dynamic, real-time approach was needed to capture the full impact of events like conferences and festivals on the economy. - Gaining deeper visitor sentiment and popularity insights
Without a centralised system to analyse real-time visitor perceptions, tailoring marketing strategies and improving tourism products was time consuming and tedious. A robust data solution allows for better understanding of traveller preferences and experience quality.
Recognising the potential for growth in these areas, South Africa sought a solution that would elevate its ability to make informed, data-driven decisions.
Why choose Data Appeal
A unified, comprehensive solution
To address these challenges, South Africa turned to Data Appeal, a trusted partner in providing real-time, location-based intelligence.
With an extensive database of over 112 thousand points of interest (POI) and 3 million digital traces for South Africa in the last 12 months, Data Appeal offered the comprehensive, structured solution needed to drive strategic tourism development.
Key advantages of the platform included:
- Precision mapping with geolocation data, allowing for more strategic tourism planning and investment.
- AI-powered event tracking, which moved beyond surveys to capture the full impact of business events in real time.
- Sentiment analysis and popularity insights, providing a deeper understanding of traveller preferences and trends.
- Sustainability modelling, enabling more responsible tourism management and proactive responses to challenges like overtourism.
After an in-depth demonstration of the platform’s capabilities, it became clear that Data Appeal’s intelligence aligned seamlessly with South Africa’s strategic vision—delivering insights that were both actionable and forward-thinking.
112 thousand
Points of interest analysed
Last 12 months
3 million
Digital traces about South Africa
Last 12 months
Data Appeal’s solution
Advanced mapping, sentiment analysis, and event tracking
Data Appeal’s D/AI Destinations platform provides a powerful framework for analysing a destination’s tourism landscape.
The key features include:
- Sentiment analysis and popularity metrics, offering a comprehensive view of tourism products across different regions
- Sustainability modelling, enabling deeper insights into responsible tourism and challenges like overtourism
- Event tracking capabilities, providing real-time insights into events and their impact
- Geolocation data, making it easier to strategically map and manage tourism products
These tools are instrumental in assessing the potential of lesser-known areas, optimising tourism flow, and understanding key factors influencing sentiment and popularity.
The results
A future of continuous learning and innovation
With the implementation of Data Appeal’s D/AI Destinations platform, we have significantly enhanced our ability to analyse, optimise, and develop our tourism sector with data-driven precision.
Key results include:
- A structured database providing a comprehensive view of tourism products across all provinces.
- More accurate event impact assessments, particularly for festivals and business conferences, improving investment decisions.
- Faster, more cost-effective decision-making, reducing inefficiencies and maximizing resource allocation.
This transformation has empowered South Africa to make better, faster, and more strategic tourism decisions—ensuring continued growth and sustainability in an increasingly competitive global market.
By embracing data as a key driver of success, South African Tourism has positioned itself as a learning organisation—continuously evolving, refining strategies, and leveraging insights to enhance the visitor experience.
As the tourism landscape changes, so too will the ability to adapt, innovate, and lead. The journey to smarter tourism is ongoing, and with Data Appeal’s powerful intelligence, South Africa is well-equipped to shape its future with confidence.
“Data Appeal has helped us demystify big data and made information in this space truly actionable for our needs. While the product will continue to improve over time, it already serves as an excellent support system for our data requirements.”
Neesha PillayHead of Insights, South African Tourism
Photo credits: South African Tourism
