There are up to date stats and decent “feel good” stories from people that have gone home.

It is worth remembering that SAffas are their own worst enemies overseas. It is not Google that is telling the world SA is a bad place, it is providing the evidence that people want to see because it supports their belief based on first hand conversations with South Africans that seem to only want to tell the world how bad the country has become – AA, crime, Zimbabwe etc. They forget about the resourceful, generous people, the friendly faces, the wonderful lifestyles etc.

Keep looking and you will find the stories about the philanthropy of SA businesses – one of the highest corporate social responsibility contributing countries in the world, the Angels of Soweto – unemployed people that formed security teams to protect the people of Soweto at night to get home safely and to the taxis without being mugged – the efforts of local businesses and communities to step in and help each other when local govts fail. The initiatives of teams like Highveld Radio etc – these are the people of South Africa – they make up the nation. We should be proud to be part of a society that looks out for each other. We should not be letting a minority of people hold us to randsom. It would be an injustice to the majority of our society. Meeting these people alone makes it worth a visit to SA. The scenery, the sunshine and the beaches – that is just a bonus.

But I also believe that SA Tourism and Brand SA should be a lot more pro-active about getting a balanced view out. Between ex-SA’s who take any opportunity to bad-mouth the country (usually based on things which happened to them 12 years ago), to inaccurate and outdated info about SA, it’s no wonder so many have negative perceptions about our country.

Maybe they should be spending some of their budget on righting misconceptions first before they entice people to visit. Because no matter how beautiful your pictures of Table Mountain are, visitors won’t come if they believe that their lives could be endangered.

I recently had Canadian and British cousins visit us over the Christmas holidays, and the only reason they agreed to come was because my uncle convinced them that it wasn’t as dangerous as they believed. Once they were here they were amazed at how exaggerated their fears were and now can’t wait to come back for another visit.