Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane announced on Monday that Africa's Travel Indaba has been postponed.
The event was scheduled to take place from May 12 to 14, 2020.
Speaking at a media briefing on Monday, Kubayi-Ngubane said: “After careful consideration, we have taken the difficult decision to postpone Africa’s Travel Indaba, scheduled to take place from 12 to 14 May 2020.
"Africa's Travel Indaba is one of the largest tourism marketing events on the African calendar, is one of the top three ‘must visit’ events of its kind on the global calendar. It showcases the widest variety of Africa's best tourism products, attracts global buyers.
“The current travel restrictions imposed by various countries to contain the pandemic will inevitably lead to a greatly reduced number of participants if the event that is Africa's Travel Indaba was to go ahead," she said.
She said that they also considered the risk associated with a large number of people gathering in one place when they decided to postpone the event.
"We want to ensure that this event does not contribute to the spread of this pandemic
"The decision to postpone #Indaba2020 is also in keeping with the advice by health authorities for social distancing and limiting mass gatherings, " she added.
Kubayi-Ngubane said the team reached out directly to exhibitors and attendees with information about the postponement and the future plans.
“We will review the decision depending on how the situation evolves and working in consultation with industry stakeholders we will advise on future dates," she said.