South African Tourism (SAT) released the January to June tourism statistics at the National Tourism Stakeholder Forum at NH Johannesburg Sandton on September 5. They show that international tourism is not yet back to its 2019 levels while domestic has fallen back slightly from 2023 levels for the half year.
Melusi Mngomezulu, GM of Data Analytics at South African Tourism, said the data “still tells a story of recovery”.
“However, we are recovering quite well and, based on Oxford Economics projections, we should close the year at pre-COVID numbers.”
International
International arrivals for H1 reached 4,4 million, down 12,8% from H1 2019 (5,5 million arrivals). This was, however, an improvement on the 4,1 million arrivals achieved between January and June last year.
Domestic figures
Domestic overnight trips in H1 reached 17,8 million, a decrease of 5,3% on H1 2023 at 18,8 million. The domestic statistics were compared with 2023 because 2019 levels (8,6 million) had already been surpassed in 2022 (15,2 million).
Domestic day trips were 54,3 million, a decrease of 32,8% from 2023.
The total domestic overnight spend reached R55,7bn, an increase of 6,1%, with an average overnight spend of R3 114, an increase of 11,3%.
The average length of stay was 3,7 nights, an increase of 5,4%.
A more detailed view of the domestic statistics can be viewed below:
Holidays as a reason for travel increased by 30%.
“This is quite positive and it also speaks to some of the work that the domestic team is doing to ensure that we drive South Africans to explore their country for holiday purposes,” Mngomezulu highlighted.
