South Africa Eyes Indian Tourists: Leveraging the BRICS Advantage

Abstract

This paper explores South Africa’s potential to attract Indian tourists by leveraging its membership in the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) economic bloc. Drawing insights from three key studies—Madikizela et al. (2019) on South Africa’s revealed comparative advantage (RCA) in BRICS trade, Accastello et al. (2019) on participatory tourism development in resource-dependent economies, and Goyal et al. (2020) on FDI attractiveness in BRICS—the study identifies strategic opportunities for South Africa to enhance its tourism sector through BRICS collaboration. The findings suggest that South Africa can capitalize on India’s growing outbound tourism market by improving visa policies, enhancing air connectivity, and promoting cultural and eco-tourism. Policy recommendations include BRICS-wide tourism agreements, joint marketing initiatives, and infrastructure investments to position South Africa as a preferred destination for Indian travelers.