Today, I joined private sector tourism representatives from the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) to launch the Secura Traveller app and Operations Centre in Johannesburg. 

The launch today comes a few months after a commitment by the TBCSA to launch the app which is aimed at enhancing our visitor’s experience. 

The TBCSA is a member of the National Tourism Safety Forum and the app is one of the measures which the forum committed to implementing as part of tourism safety measures. 

The launch of the Secura Traveller app today is a clear indication of just how much positive change can come from partnerships between the public and private sector. I look forward to continue collaborations with the private sector as we work towards exceeding our 2019 arrival figures by March 2024.

I wish to thank the private sector for this investment and all their hard work to launch the app and the Operations Centre.

The app integrates a range of affordable services including emergency medical responses, breakdowns and crime-related incident assistance.

The Secura App connects travellers and tourism stakeholders to hundreds of service providers when every second counts. The service providers are ready and equipped to assist in any situation.

In addition to the Secura app, a hotline number has been set up that can further assist to speed up response times. The hotline number is +27 (0) 83 318 2475.

Since our last update to the media on this at the end of May, TBCSA has established a Tourism Operations Centre to guide and manage the SECURA Traveller technology to support the Tourism Monitors.

I met with TBCSA a few days after I took office in March and we addressed the issue of tourist safety and the need to revive the dormant 2018 National Tourism Safety Strategy, including the Memorandum of Understanding between my department and the South African Police Service.

While it is the mandate of the South African Police Service mandate to ensure the safety of all South Africans and our visitors, we all have a role to play in ensuring we provide the best possible visitor experience to this beautiful country of ours.

Since March, we have convened two National Safety Forum meetings with stakeholders from all three spheres of government, the private sector, various tourism bodies, the Airports Company of South Africa, the South African Police Services and the National Prosecuting Authority.

At our first meeting on 29 May 2023, we announced that the Secura app would be launched and discussed the role this technology plays in mitigating negative visitor experiences – because it is incidents like crime that deter would-be travellers from pressing the button to visit South Africa.

Crime affects all of us and unfortunately, it deflects from the beauty, love and warmth we as a nation have to offer.

In the coming weeks, I will meet with members of the Diplomatic Corps as well as Heads of our Missions abroad to inform them of the work we are doing collaboratively as tourism stakeholders. 

Later this year, the Department of Tourism will also deploy Tourism Monitors as an additional safety measure.

We are committed to continuing our work with all members of the National Tourism Safety Forum as our collective goal remains to grow tourism and its contribution to the country’s economy and job creation. 

Issued by the Ministry of Tourism

Zara Nicholson

Ministry Media Liaison Officer

Cell: 079 416 5996 

Email: znicholson@tourism.gov.za​