South African Tourism launches ‘Siyanda’ AI assistant for North American market
South African Tourism has partnered with Matador Network’s GuideGeek platform to launch ‘Siyanda’, an AI travel assistant designed to help North American travellers plan trips to South Africa. Announced in New York, the tool provides real‑time, personalised answers on itineraries, safaris, hiking, dining and cultural sites, using data from South African Tourism and more than 1,000 GuideGeek integrations. South Africa is the first African destination to deploy a custom GuideGeek trip‑planning tool.
Available 24/7, Siyanda also supports travel advisors with destination insights and tailored itinerary suggestions, aligning with rising demand for trusted sustainability and planning information. The launch follows the US becoming South Africa’s largest overseas market in 2024 and aims to deepen engagement and conversion ahead of 2026. GuideGeek has been recognised with Skift’s 2025 IDEA Award for Best Use of AI and as a Fast Company Most Innovative Companies honouree, signalling growing industry adoption of AI‑enabled trip planning.
Source: GuideGeek AI
