For decades, South Africa's international tourism strategy relied almost exclusively on a single, powerful magnet: the safari.
Millions flocked to the Kruger and beyond for a glimpse of the Big Five, treating the surrounding communities as little more than scenic scenery on the way to the bush.
But while wildlife brings travellers to the continent, a silent revolution in cultural heritage is what's convincing them to stay longer, spend deeper, and return.
By pairing morning game drives with living history, ancient archaeological sites, and untold stories of local communities, the country is evolving from a simple wildlife destination into a complete human experience.
According to Statistics South Africa, the country welcomed 10,498,506 international tourists in 2025, a 17.7% increase on the previous year and 2.6% above the pre-pandemic figure recorded in 2019. Of these, 97.3% travelled for holiday purposes.
The Kruger remains central to that proposition. In the 2025/26 financial year, the flagship park welcomed a record 1,959,757 guests, according to the Department of Tourism.
But if millions of people are already travelling to South Africa for its wildlife, could the country’s cultural and heritage offering encourage them to stay longer, travel further and spend more in communities beyond the traditional tourism circuit?
For some in the industry, the answer is yes.
Adding the human story to the safari
Anton Gillis, CEO at Kruger Gate Hotel, Platinum Hospitality Holdings and HAMAC, believes South Africa’s cultural and heritage tourism potential remains largely untapped.
“While the Kruger National Park has been named one of the Wonders of the World, and the Big Five will always be a powerful draw, the legendary reserve is just one chapter in South Africa’s broader story,” Gillis says.
He points to the communities, historical sites and archaeological heritage surrounding the country’s major wildlife destinations.
“The land around the Kruger has been shaped by people for thousands of years: the living culture of the Shangaan and Tsonga communities, the gold-rush history of towns like Pilgrim’s Rest, San rock art, and further north the ancient kingdom of Mapungubwe. That depth is enormous, and it’s largely untapped.”
For Gillis, cultural tourism should not compete with safari tourism. Instead, it can make the overall journey richer.
“The modern traveller increasingly wants meaning and connection, not just a checklist of animals. Heritage and culture are where I see the real growth - they’re what turn a three-night safari into a week-long journey, and what bring guests back a second and third time.”
Keeping tourism benefits in local communities
The opportunity extends beyond giving visitors another activity.
Community-based heritage tourism can create income for local guides, artisans, performers, cooks and accommodation providers, while allowing more tourism revenue to circulate within rural communities.
“The conventional model can concentrate the benefit - a guest flies in, stays in a lodge, and much of the value leaves with them,” Gillis says.
“Community-based heritage tourism does the opposite: it keeps money circulating locally.”
He argues that cultural tourism can also help diversify rural economies that are heavily dependent on seasonal game viewing.
“Culture doesn’t have a low season,” he says.
Just as importantly, he believes communities should be the custodians of their own stories.
“Communities become the custodians and storytellers of their own heritage, not the backdrop to someone else’s holiday.”
Connecting generations through tourism
For Velile Ndlumbini, founding member and managing director of Imonti Tours, heritage tourism is also creating a bridge between generations.
The tour operator works with villages where much of the knowledge about traditional practices, local history and culture is held by older community members.
“Most of them have never been to school, and they have the indigenous knowledge,” Ndlumbini says.
The challenge is that many of these elders are not trained tourism guides. Imonti Tours therefore works with younger people who learn from the elders and then share that knowledge with visitors.
The approach creates opportunities for young people while helping preserve knowledge that has traditionally been passed down orally.
Ndlumbini says visitors are particularly interested in the stories that they would not necessarily encounter through conventional tourism.
“We have a lot of untold stories.”
In some villages, communities have also begun forming groups to perform traditional music and dance for visitors, with younger people learning traditional dances and musical instruments.
For Ndlumbini, that intergenerational connection is essential to ensuring that indigenous culture and traditions survive.
From wildlife destination to complete destination
The challenge now is making these experiences accessible, credible and easy to incorporate into travel itineraries.
“Heritage experiences need to be well-run, accessible and properly packaged so an operator can slot them into an itinerary with confidence,” Gillis says.
The opportunity, he believes, is to integrate rather than separate the country’s tourism offerings.
“Pair a morning in the bush with an afternoon immersed in the region’s history and culture.”
That could mean a traveller arriving for a safari and leaving with an understanding of the communities that have lived alongside the wildlife, the history of the surrounding landscape, its food, music, crafts and indigenous knowledge.
South Africa does not need to choose between its wildlife and its cultural heritage.
The Big Five will remain an extraordinary tourism asset. But they are only part of the country’s story.
Beyond the game reserves are communities with generations of knowledge, landscapes shaped by history, traditional foods and medicines, music and dance, archaeological sites, indigenous craftsmanship and stories that have yet to reach a wider audience.
The opportunity may therefore not be to move beyond the Big Five altogether, but to look beyond them.
Because the most memorable South African journey may not simply be the one where a traveller sees a lion.
It may be the one where, after seeing the lion, they understand the people, history and culture of the land on which it stands.
zamandosi.cele@nationalmg.co.za