South Africa welcomed 1.8 million tourist arrivals from the rest of the African continent between January and March this year, marking a significant 74.5% of all arrivals.
This is according to the monthly statistical release from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), which provided information on South African residents and foreign travellers who entered or left South Africa in March 2024.
Details of travellers’ mode of travel, purpose of visit, age and gender distribution are also provided in the report.
Highlights of the results released by Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke show that in March, 2 710 991 travellers (arrivals, departures and transits) entered and exited South Africa.
The travellers were made up of 776 848 South African residents and 1 934 143 foreign travellers.
For South African residents there were 366 237 arrivals, 410 217 departures and 394 travellers in transit. The corresponding volume for foreign arrivals, departures and travellers in transit was 995 770, 902 238 and 36 135, respectively.
The travellers were made up of 776 848 (28.7%) South African residents and 1 934 143 (71.3%) foreign travellers.
“Foreign arrivals were made up of 26 485 (2.7%) non-visitors and 969 285 (97.3%) visitors. Visitors consisted of 218 317 (22.5%) same-day visitors and 750 968 (77.5%) overnight visitors (tourists),” said Maluleke.
“Overseas tourists constituted 28.8% (216 563) of all tourists. The UK at 41 896, Germany at 35 714 and the US at 35 302 contributed 52.1% to overseas tourists.”
Tourists from Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries constituted 69.3% (520 175) of all tourists in March. Zimbabwe contributed 170 579 tourists, Mozambique 116 882 and Lesotho 73 121 travellers to South Africa, resulting in 69.3% of SADC tourists hosted in March.
African countries outside the SADC region contributed 1.7% (13 123) of all tourists received in South Africa.
Kenya had 3 787 tourists, Ghana 2 921 and Nigeria 1 958 tourists, contributing 66% of tourists from other African countries outside the SADC.
Stats SA said the majority of tourists listed “holiday” as the main purpose of their visits to South Africa.
About 96.8% of all the tourists were in South Africa for holiday purposes.
Reacting to the Stats SA report, the Department of Tourism said South Africa’s tourism sector continues on a positive trajectory. It points to a robust and growing South African tourism sector. “International tourist arrivals from January to March 2024 totalled 2.4 million, representing a remarkable 15.4% increase when compared with the same period in 2023,” said Zara Nicholson, national spokesperson for the Department of Tourism.
“Africa leads the way. South Africa welcomed 1.8 million tourist arrivals from the rest of the African continent between January and March 2024, marking a significant 74.5% of all arrivals,” she said.
“Zimbabwe and Ghana stood out for their remarkable growth, with Zimbabwe experiencing a 21.8% increase in tourist arrivals to South Africa when compared to the first three months of 2023, totalling 613 675 arrivals; Ghana recorded a 249.4% increase reaching 7 904 arrivals for January to March.”
Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille expressed appreciation of the remarkable growth in arrival numbers from the African continent, especially Ghana.
“Ghana’s immense performance can be attributed to the fact South Africa and Ghana announced a visa-waiver scheme on November 1, 2023.”
The Department of Tourism also applauded the “noteworthy” growth from Asia markets.
“Asian markets also showed significant growth with a total of 49 741 arrivals from the region. We welcomed 16 209 tourists from India, 0.9% lower compared to 2023,” the department said.
“South Africa received 11 017 visitors from China, registering a massive 82% increase in the first three months of 2024 when compared to the same period in 2023.”
Regarding Middle East arrivals, South Africa received 2 387 arrivals from Saudi Arabia in 2024, marking an increase of 31.7% when compared to 2023.
Strong momentum was also observed from the Americas (North and South America). “Tourist arrivals from the Americas registered at 118 194 from January to March 2024, reflecting a 12.4% growth.”
From January to March 2024, South Africa saw 420 727 tourist arrivals from Europe, a 8.6% increase compared to the same period in 2023. The UK had 125 420 tourists (a 5.3% growth compared to 2023); arrivals from Germany were at 98 954 (up 9.9%); and from the Netherlands 37 548 (up 9.9%).
Russia exhibited a “dramatic” growth of 9.6% compared to 2023, contributing 9 329 of arrivals in 2024.
Cape Times