“South Africa has a ton of momentum as a destination,” said Matador Network CEO Ross Borden. “With incredible wildlife experiences alongside world-class adventure travel and wine, as well as bustling, vibrant cities, it’s no wonder it finds its way onto more ‘best of’ and bucket lists every year. Siyanda helps travelers quickly go from being curious about South Africa to planning and booking their ideal trip to a large country full of rich cultural experiences.”
Travelers can prompt Siyanda to plan a full itinerary or answer specific questions about safaris, hiking trails, local restaurants, historical landmarks and more. Responses are personalized and generated in real-time by AI trained on extensive data from South African Tourism. This is combined with over 1,000 travel information integrations from GuideGeek’s award-winning technology. GuideGeek was named “Best Use of AI” in Skift’s 2025 IDEA Awards and recognized as one of the Most Innovative Companies in travel by Fast Company.
First African destination to offer AI trip planning tool
“The name Siyanda is from Xhosa, one of South Africa’s 11 official languages, and means ‘We are growing. We are increasing,'” explained Darryl Erasmus, Chief Operations Officer of South African Tourism. “Siyanda enables us to grow that connection by reaching travelers who are now using AI alongside traditional channels to research and book trips.”
South Africa is the first African destination to launch a custom artificial intelligence trip planning tool with GuideGeek. It joins other nations around the world such as Greece and New Zealand in leveraging GuideGeek AI to help tech-savvy visitors plan trips and build a relationship with the destination before their plane takes off.
In addition to serving curious travelers, Siyanda is also a valuable tool for travel advisors looking to deepen their South Africa expertise and better serve their clients. Available 24/7, the AI assistant can instantly answer destination-specific questions, suggest tailored itineraries, and provide real-time insights on everything from wildlife experiences to local cuisine, empowering advisors to save time, personalize recommendations, and stay ahead of client expectations.
Siyanda enhances, rather than replaces, traditional planning, giving advisors a smart, always-on partner to support their work and inspire their clients throughout the travel journey.