Beyond the Cup: Rooibos, Zero Tariffs and the Opportunity for Meaningful Tourism

There are certain things we carry with us wherever we go.

For me, one of them has always been Rooibos.

Whether I found myself in Beijing, China, Bern, Switzerland, Cape Town, or somewhere else in the world, Rooibos remained an integral part of my routine. A cup of Rooibos offered something familiar, a small connection to South Africa even when I was thousands of kilometres away.

During the economic difficulties surrounding Covid, I even traded modest quantities of Rooibos among Chinese colleagues and friends. What interested me was that many did not need to be persuaded that Rooibos was something special. They were already familiar with its reputation and particularly interested in the health and wellness qualities associated with it.

That experience made me think differently about the product.

Here was something originating in a very specific part of South Africa, travelling halfway around the world and finding its way into Chinese homes.

But the product had travelled further than its story.

And therein lies an opportunity.

A changing opportunity in China

The commercial environment for Rooibos in China has changed significantly in a relatively short period.

Until recently, South African Rooibos entering China faced import tariffs that had historically ranged from approximately 15% to 30%. Following engagement between South Africa and China and the adoption of a dedicated customs classification, China reduced the tariff to around 6% from January 2024.

Then came a further significant development.

From 1 May 2026 to 30 April 2028, China introduced temporary zero-tariff treatment for qualifying products from 20 non-least-developed African countries, including South Africa. The arrangement operates subject to the applicable rules of origin and customs requirements.

For Rooibos, this means the remaining import duty has effectively been removed for qualifying exports.

That matters.

China is already an established market for Rooibos rather than an entirely new one. South African Rooibos Council figures show that China was the seventh-largest Rooibos export destination in both 2023 and 2024. In 2024, South Africa exported approximately 323,935 kilograms of Rooibos to China, representing around 3% of total Rooibos exports.

The South African Rooibos Council has described zero-tariff access as an important opportunity to improve competitiveness, strengthen market access and potentially stimulate future export volumes and employment throughout the value chain.

But I believe the significance goes beyond tonnage.

A tariff can open a market. It cannot, by itself, build a relationship with that market.

That is where Meaningful Tourism enters the conversation.

Rooibos is not simply a product

There is sometimes a light-hearted perception that the Chinese can reproduce or manufacture almost anything.

My decades of interaction with China have taught me that reality is far more sophisticated than the stereotype.

Rooibos, however, illustrates an important principle.

It is not simply a formula that can be manufactured anywhere.

Rooibos is inseparable from place.

Its international protection as a geographical product recognises the connection between the plant, its production methods and the distinctive environmental conditions of its South African growing region. The South African Rooibos Council also explicitly identifies geographical protection as an opportunity not only to protect the Rooibos name but to promote tourism connected to the region.

This is where trade and tourism intersect.

The question should therefore not only be:

How much more Rooibos can South Africa export to China now that the tariff is zero?

We should also ask:

How can growing Chinese interest in Rooibos create deeper interest in the South African place, people and heritage behind it?

From market access to destination access

Imagine the journey.

A consumer encounters Rooibos in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen or another Chinese city.

Perhaps it is first experienced because it is caffeine-free. Perhaps wellness creates the initial interest. Perhaps a restaurant, retailer, hotel or social-media recommendation introduces the product.

The zero tariff can help make that commercial encounter more competitive.

But what happens next?

Could that consumer eventually travel to South Africa and visit the Rooibos-growing region?

Could they meet growers?

Learn why Rooibos thrives in this particular environment?

Experience the Cederberg landscape?

Understand the indigenous knowledge connected to the plant?

Stay in locally owned accommodation?

Eat local food?

Meet entrepreneurs developing Rooibos-based products?

Take part in wellness, culinary or cultural experiences?

And then return to China with a completely different relationship with that familiar cup?

Trade can put Rooibos on a shelf in Beijing. Tourism can connect the person buying it to the land and people behind it.

That, to me, is the deeper opportunity.

The Rooibos value chain can become a tourism value chain

For much of my professional life, I have worked across tourism, trade, China–Africa relations, business development, Corporate Social Responsibility and community economic development.

One lesson has repeatedly emerged from that experience:

Economic opportunity becomes more sustainable when we stop thinking purely in terms of transactions and begin thinking about ecosystems.

Consider what happens when Rooibos becomes a visitor experience rather than simply an exported agricultural product.

The farmer participates.

The guide participates.

The accommodation establishment participates.

The restaurant participates.

The transport operator participates.

The storyteller participates.

The craft producer participates.

The wellness practitioner participates.

Young entrepreneurs can participate.

Small enterprises can develop complementary products and experiences.

Suddenly the economic footprint of that one cup becomes substantially larger.

This is precisely why I believe we need to think about tourism as economic infrastructure, rather than viewing it primarily as destination promotion. My broader work around tourism has increasingly focused on the relationship between tourism, enterprise development, investment, human capital and international cooperation.

Zero tariffs create opportunity, but not automatically

There is an important caution here.

It would be premature to assume that removing the tariff will automatically produce a dramatic surge in Rooibos exports to China.

As of now, the strongest evidence is that the change improves competitiveness and creates considerably better conditions for market development. The actual long-term growth in Chinese demand will depend on factors including consumer awareness, positioning, distribution, branding, regulatory compliance and sustained market development.

In fact, the industry’s response has been appropriately measured. Rooibos leaders have emphasised that long-term value depends on quality, provenance and responsible stewardship rather than simply chasing volume.

I believe that distinction is important.

China’s size can make almost any market opportunity appear irresistible.

But scale alone should not determine strategy.

The real opportunity is not simply to export more Rooibos. It is to create more value from every relationship Rooibos opens.

That means thinking beyond bulk agricultural exports.

It means branded products.

Value-added products.

Hospitality experiences.

Wellness experiences.

Culinary tourism.

Cultural storytelling.

Rural enterprise development.

And potentially visitors travelling between China and South Africa because a product first awakened their curiosity about a place.

A Meaningful Tourism perspective

In my role as Vice President and Co-Founder of the China Africa Meaningful Tourism Partnership, this is the part of the discussion that particularly interests me. CAMTP’s broader purpose is to advance Meaningful Tourism cooperation between China, Africa and the wider world.

For me, Meaningful Tourism asks us to look beyond visitor numbers.

How much value stays in the destination?

Which local enterprises participate?

Do rural communities benefit?

Are young people gaining economic opportunities?

Is local knowledge respected?

Are visitors gaining greater understanding of the people and places they encounter?

And are the natural and cultural assets that make the destination distinctive being protected?

Rooibos offers a particularly powerful case because questions of heritage and benefit sharing are already embedded in its story. The industry has an established benefit-sharing agreement recognising Khoi and San traditional knowledge associated with Rooibos. The product therefore carries lessons about ownership, heritage, participation and economic value that are directly relevant to tourism.

Meaningful Tourism should not merely package heritage for visitors.

It should help ensure that people connected to that heritage participate in the value it creates.

The China–Africa opportunity is bigger than tea

My relationship with China stretches back to 1999 and has included business, tourism, trade, exhibitions, cultural exchange and people-to-people relationships.

That experience has convinced me that cross-border relationships become stronger when commerce and human connection reinforce one another.

The zero-tariff window from May 2026 to April 2028 provides South African agricultural producers with a valuable commercial opportunity. But it can also encourage us to think more strategically about the relationship between trade, tourism and cultural understanding.

For Chinese consumers, discovering Rooibos could become a first encounter with the Cederberg.

For South African producers, access to China could become more than a sales channel.

For tourism authorities, an export market could become a visitor market.

For local communities, international market access could create new opportunities for enterprise and participation.

And for China–Africa cooperation, a cup of tea could become something surprisingly powerful: an invitation to understand one another better.

Beyond Rooibos

There is also a broader African lesson here.

Across the continent we have distinctive foods, agricultural products, crafts, cultural traditions, landscapes and knowledge systems that are deeply connected to particular places.

Too often we export the product and leave the story behind.

Or we promote the destination without connecting visitors meaningfully to the economic ecosystem surrounding it.

We can do better.

Zero tariffs can help goods cross borders.

Good tourism strategy can help stories, relationships and opportunities cross those same borders.

When product, place, people and purpose come together, tourism becomes more than travel, it becomes a platform for shared economic value.

Perhaps that is the larger story contained in a cup of Rooibos.

And perhaps, as China opens its market further to African products, this is the moment to ensure that we are not only asking how much more Africa can sell to the world.

We should also be asking how those products can invite the world to experience Africa more meaningfully.

Click here to follow me on LinkedIn