South African Tourism’s food-first destination strategy faces its test against policy and market data when the agency joins the Gastronomy Africa Conference & Expo in uMhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal, from Monday 19 October to Tuesday 20 October 2026.
The two-day event, formerly the SA Chef Conference & Expo, has grown into a pan-African platform on the business of food. Its agenda covers culinary heritage, indigenous ingredients, responsible sourcing, skills development and gastronomy tourism. Chefs, restaurateurs, food producers, hospitality professionals and tourism leaders are expected to attend.
For the national tourism agency, participation sits within a defined mandate. It aligns with the Department of Tourism’s 2023 National Gastronomy Tourism Framework, which guides the development and promotion of gastronomy tourism. The agency’s stated aim is to strengthen the link between chefs, restaurants, food producers and tourism entrepreneurs on one side, and the international travellers and trade partners who can bring these experiences to market on the other. Its engagement is also framed as a way to identify the support needed to enhance visitor experiences, improve market readiness and build offerings that can compete internationally.
The case for elevating food rests on visitor research. Data Appeal analysed more than 1.3 million reviews from international travellers between September 2025 and September 2026. The finding: South Africa’s Food & Beverage sector recorded an overall sentiment score of 90.7 out of 100.
Sithembile Ndaba, Chief Marketing Officer at South African Tourism, said the findings reinforce the opportunity to convert positive visitor experiences into a stronger, more commercially viable tourism offering. “The data tells us that food is already performing as a meaningful part of the South African visitor experience. Our opportunity now is to be much more deliberate about turning that strength into a tourism proposition that can be packaged, marketed and sold.”
By contrast with the cuisine itself, Ndaba argued the most significant element of the findings concerns hospitality. “What is particularly significant is that the strongest part of the story is not only what visitors are eating, but how they are being welcomed. South Africa’s people are part of the product. Every interaction in a restaurant is an opportunity to reinforce the warmth, authenticity and sense of place that we want international visitors to associate with South Africa,” she said.
The agency frames the data as a directive to the trade. Tour operators, destination management companies, accommodation establishments and itinerary planners are being encouraged to incorporate distinctive food experiences more deliberately into visitor itineraries. The range cited spans traditional cuisine and township food experiences to wine routes, local markets and contemporary African dining, with gastronomy positioned as a way to encourage travellers to visit more places, engage more deeply with communities and support local enterprises.
The accountability question is whether sentiment can be translated into structured offerings. By positioning food as an integral part of the destination experience, South African Tourism says it seeks to unlock new opportunities for tourism businesses, support broader economic participation and invite the world to discover South Africa’s flavours, cultures and communities.
Meanwhile, the outreach sits under the agency’s Come Find Your Joy brand campaign, through which the country invites travellers to experience South Africa one flavour, one story and one unforgettable journey at a time. Further coverage of the agency’s gastronomy tourism agenda is available at https://www.ednews.africa/p/south-african-tourism-puts-food-firmly.
As the event’s framing suggests, a destination can be remembered by the flavours it leaves behind, and gastronomy can offer travellers a deeply personal way to experience the people, culture and stories that make South Africa unforgettable. Whether the sector’s institutions can convert that goodwill into a competitive, market-ready offering will be the measure of the framework’s success.