SOUTH AFRICA’S CREATIVITY IS A VIABLE TOURISM VEHICLE
By Monde Twala
When you think about the epic face-off between The Hulk and Iron Man in the 2015 film The Avengers: Age of Ultron, you might not immediately notice that downtown Johannesburg was the setting of the scene, and although the 2022 Box Office hit The Woman King is set in Benin, it was filmed in KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape using locations that look like West Africa, 2006 film Blood Diamond is set in Sierra Leone and was filmed in Cape Town. There are a host of other Hollywood hits such as District 9 (2009), The Dark Tower (2017), Maze Runner: The Death Curse (2018), and Tomb Raider (2018), that were filmed right here on South African soil.
This creative activity has made a significant investment into the South African economy, with international filmmakers taking advantage of South Africa’s diverse, vast, and unique locations, lower production costs and a favourable exchange rate. According to South African Tourism, including the film industry; South Africa’s creative economy contributes around R90-billion to the national economy.
America and Europe have mastered using the creative industry to attract tourists to their various cities. Each year, the two host the world’s most notable awards ceremonies including the Grammys, Oscars, MTV Europe Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs)
and the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards in cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas, London, Budapest, Spain, and Seville, attracting thousands of dollars into each local economy, and each time, turning the cities into tourism Meccas.
South Africa’s creative industry is just as vibrant and as capable of hosting international music awards, such as the 2015 edition of the iconic MTV Africa Music Awards which took place at the Durban International Convention Centre (ICC Arena). With this said, both tourism and various parts of South Africa’s creative industries should actively invest in the country as a leading location for various creative formats. This will create a sustainable creative economy, providing livelihoods for small, medium, and large enterprises and entertainment sub-sectors such as marketing, eventing, accommodation, and hospitality amongst others.
Inglewood is a city in the southwestern Los Angeles metropolitan area with a history of racial segregation and gang violence. When the 2014 VMAs were hosted there, it was just after the (Kia) Forum – a multi-purpose indoor arena had received a revamp after being closed for years after it had fallen on hard times. The internationally televised VMAs helped to reintroduce the facility to millions more people, and definitely contributed to the attention that Inglewood enjoys today, with shows such as American actress, writer, producer, and comedian, Issa Rae’s Insecure filmed in the neighbourhood years later. South Africa can take a leaf out of this rejuvenation project and apply it to white elephant venues to help inject investment into the township economy.
With an abundance of beauty, culture and spirit, South Africa is the perfect destination for any event that has creativity at its heart.
The NBA opened an office in South Africa last year, launching 'NBA Africa'. Some South African celebrities such as musician Cassper Nyovest, dancer and choreographer Bontle Modiselle and renowned illustrator Karabo Poppy, got the opportunity to enjoy the 2023 NBA All-Star Weekend in the United States. They not only got to mingle with NBA royalty, but also started an Uncle Waffles’ Amapiano mix dance challenge, instantaneously putting South Africa on the map.
Partnerships and sponsorships such as these epitomise the unifying power of sports and showcase how tourism can benefit from it.
South Africa may be crippled by unemployment, but it’s time for a second take on the solutions that will slowly begin to remove us from our current slump, and some of them may not be traditionally well accepted, however, they could be just what we need to appeal to new markets, and as a result, put South African and African talent, music, fashion and entertainment on the map too.
It’s a simple formula: young people across the globe are attracted to the creative industry whether through sport, music, film, media, or broadcasting – something South Africa can leverage, just like Ghana did with Afrochella – putting the country on the global tourism map with curated packages to enjoy in the country’s various cities during Afrochella. Although the festival has come to an end, the concept was heart-warming: Invite African Americans and other guests, to celebrate the new year in the continent of their origin, with international acts like Burna Boy, Stonebwoy, Ayra Starr and Fireboy DML. The festival revellers not only got a taste of African musical talent, but also had the opportunity to experience Accra, Cape Coast and Akosombo through food, music and culture, shopping for genuine swag in local markets and other unforgettable genuine African adventures of a lifetime.
Actor Idris Elba hosted the Africa Day Concert, an event which was in partnership between him, MTV Base and YouTube last year. The virtual concert, which was held on Africa Day (May 25), was a pan-African event, with artists performing on multiple stages from Lagos to Johannesburg, streamed to a global audience on YouTube, and broadcast across MTV channels. A very strong message that came out of the partnership from Elba was that a change in the negative narrative about the continent was sorely needed and that potential of the continent is immense.
2017 saw the manufacturing of a colossal 30 000 litres of trademark green slime to host the Nickelodeon Slime Fest at Durban's uShaka Marine World, and in 2019, the NickFest LIVE was held in Joburg, both bringing global attention to South Africa as both experiences are globally recognised as the ultimate kids’ experience.
Paramount Africa has been ploughing into African artistry for almost two decades. When MTV Base first aired Tuface’s African Queen it reached over 1.3 million global audiences within hours of its broadcast, ushering in the global phenomenon that is Afrobeats today, later, birthing the ever popular genre Amapiano – a homegrown movement that has the whole world dancing, creating with its whirlwind magnetism, many musical careers of artists, producers, DJs and dancers – a magnetism that can still pull the world towards our shores to enjoy our breath-taking scenery, sun-soaked coasts, wild-life safaris, bustling city life, and just like comedian Kevin Hart recently did during his visit to South Africa to launch his new movie, people from across the global can learn a few local dance moves.
