South Africas tourism industry has never been short of challenges but 2025 is shaping up to be a watershed year for risk, according to SATIB Insurance Brokers.
The latest Santam Insurance Barometer highlights that increasingly frequent extreme weather events, infrastructure failures and new threats such as cybercrime South Africa is now ranked third in this category globally are posing unprecedented levels of risk.
South Africa is also considered the fifth most dangerous country globally on the Numbeo Crime Index a reminder that security risks remain front of mind for operators and their guests.
For those of us who work hand in hand with Africas tourism community, these are daily realities changing how we plan, invest and protect our businesses. As the barometer makes clear, the risks facing our sector arent just more frequent theyre more complex and interconnected than ever before, says Natasha Parry , GM of SATIB Insurance Brokers.
Key risksExtreme weather events that were once regarded as once-in-a-decade phenomena, including major floods and fires, are now occurring three to four times per year in South Africa, Parry points out.