ABSTRACT
The South African tourism industry has grown in leaps and bounds since the first democratic elections in 1994. However, tourism growth had plateaued even before the COVID19 pandemic. In the absence of international tourism arrivals due to the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns, South Africa looked to domestic tourism for recovery. Black South African’s dominate through Visiting Friends and Relatives tourism. Black South Africans also dominate the informal savings economy called stokvels. Stokvels annually save R44 billion ($2,367,181.43) and the savings are used for purchases of grocery, property investments whilst others simply disperse the cash. Tourism rarely features as a savings motive for stokvels. The savings culture of stokvels has potential in promoting domestic tourism expenditure, if targeted marketing and packaging is undertaken for the stokvels economy to support the tourism value chain in South Africa. Disposable income is a major prerequisite for tourism consumption and the potentials of the stokvels are yet to be exploited. Stokvel tourism can create a new pool of domestic tourists, whilst institutionalising the habit of holidays.
