**Please note that Zissu Travel was officially changed to TravelGround in late 2009. Please see the “About Us” section for more information.**

In recent years South African tourism has seen significant growth in international tourism figures, with a significant proportion of this growth manifesting as visitors from Southern Africa. The most recent figures show that while growth from neighbouring regions has continued at a rate of 7%, however  arrivals from overseas are down because of the international economic crisis. Arrivals from Germany are down over 6% and from China almost 15%. Despite the general decline in travellers to South Africa, arrivals from France have increased by over 11%, just so that the Frenchies can prove that they’re different.

The United Nation World Tourism Organisation says that the situation is likely to remain stagnant or even enter decline until the world economy can find its feet again. Despite the pessimism on the international front South African Tourism remains confident that SA can achieve the previously predicted figures of over 10 million visitors in 2010. The upcoming 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup will certainly help this figure along significantly.

In such times of uncertainty its no wonder that ZissuTravel is finding that so many South African accommodation establishments are keen to register on the ZissuTravel website. Despite the fact that we have not yet launched to the public, another (better!) accommodation listing can only help local establishments to book out more beds. The fact that we don’t charge membership fees and only charge a 15% commission on every transaction means that we will remain motivated to market local tourism in a big way. This means that we make our money the only way that makes sense in this industry – by making other people money!

Here’s holding thumbs that the growth that SA internet tourism industry has been experiencing will help curb the crisis for most of us…