With youth unemployment at an all-time high, South Africa urgently needs to find ways to create jobs. One industry that has been successful in this area is film production. In fact, the audio-visual and interactive media sectors added a whopping R48.4 billion to South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021.
South Africa’s film industry definitely stands out amongst its African peers, according to Wrenelle Stander, CEO of Wesgro. She explains the film industry plays a role in promoting destinations to a global audience—and Wesgro provides assistance and information for film producers looking to shoot in South Africa.
“Some of the world’s most iconic destinations have been put on the map by the film industry, such as New Zealand, thanks to movies like The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, and locations in the UK that were used for the Harry Potter movies,” says Stander.
While blockbuster films such as Mission Impossible 8 (filmed in Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal) and the popular Dutch TV show Wie is de Mol? (hosted in the Western Cape) have drawn big-budget crews to South African soil, Stander says there is also enormous potential for the gaming film market.
Valerie Rose, a travel and accommodation coordinator in film and television who regularly works with Netflix and CBS, says that beyond assisting the crew with travel post-COVID, she helps many international team members with bookings for their families to join them. Bookings can span anything from two months to a year, she says.
“The Waterfront Marina precinct benefits a lot from international crews because it is safe, close to amenities, and easy to get onto the highway to the Cape Town Film Studios”, says Rose. She highlights that apartments in the area are popular because they are private, peaceful, design-led, and fully serviced—ideal for teams that regularly push 12-hour workdays. Luxury hotels also benefit from international production teams. Rose works with a range of budgets, with most bookings in the R2 000–R3 000 per night range.
Large crews of up to 400 people can make a place their base for a few weeks, transforming quiet backwaters. The positive spinoffs are endless, declares Rose, adding that clients often leave South Africa vowing to return as a tourist or to purchase property.
“When there is downtime, they want to go and explore South Africa. Cast and crew that can afford it will choose the luxury safari option. If timing is tight, they visit reserves that are close to them”, says Rose. Opportunities abound for travel managers to tailor-make experiences to suit their needs and budget.
