{"id":20730,"date":"2025-12-09T09:24:57","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T07:24:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jhb-webdevelopers\/channelafrica\/news\/increased-air-connectivity-fundamental-to-unlocking-tourism-growth-sa-minister\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T16:31:59","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:31:59","slug":"increased-air-connectivity-fundamental-to-unlocking-tourism-growth-sa-minister","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/increased-air-connectivity-fundamental-to-unlocking-tourism-growth-sa-minister\/","title":{"rendered":"Increased air connectivity fundamental to unlocking tourism growth: SA Minister"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The announcement was made at a joint briefing in Johannesburg, attended by officials from Qantas, SA Tourism, and the Gauteng Tourism Authority.<\/p>\n<p>The new route will increase seat capacity between the two cities, making travel more accessible for both leisure and business passengers. Government representatives highlighted the potential economic benefits, noting that enhanced connectivity can drive tourism growth, attract new investment, and bolster trade relations.<\/p>\n<p>SA\u2019s Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille, emphasised the strategic importance of the initiative.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIncreased air connectivity is fundamental to unlocking tourism growth and investment. Today\u2019s announcement directly aligns with one of the five pillars of our tourism partnership and plan, which is access. This includes air routes, visas, and removing hurdles that can make SA a destination of choice,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;SABC\/ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":20731,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-20730","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"South Africa (SA) and Australia have announced a new direct flight route connecting Johannesburg and Perth, a move expected to strengthen tourism and trade ties between the two regions. ","published_date":null,"news_description":"South Africa (SA) and Australia have announced a new direct flight route connecting Johannesburg and Perth, a move expected to strengthen tourism and trade ties between the two regions. ","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/20730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/20730\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24665,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/20730\/revisions\/24665"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=20730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}