SA a destination of choice for tourists

21 February 2017 - 09:44 By Linda Ensor
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Image: Gallo Images/iStockphoto

More than 10million international tourists arrived in South Africa last year, 13% more than in 2015, figures released by StatsSA show.

This is well over the world average growth rate of 3.9% for the same period. About 1.1million more tourists came to South Africa last year than in 2015.

Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom said: "The spectacular growth in tourist arrivals indicates that the close collaboration between various departments, between the Department of Tourism and industry, and between suppliers and service providers on the ground has paid off.

"We have done well to capitalise on our status as a value-for-money destination, offering an array of experiences for tourist markets."

The UK remained the leading source market for overseas arrivals to South Africa last year with 447,840 arrivals, followed by the US (345013) and Germany (311832). China is the leading growth market, with year-on-year growth recorded at 38%. Arrivals from India grew by 22%.

"The growth in tourist arrivals from China and India has been consistent over the year, following improvements in the visa application processes in those countries," the minister said.

"We can build on this and attract even more tourists from these markets in the future."

There was an 11% growth in tourist arrivals from Africa, bringing the total for 2016 to 7.5million.

The highest number of tourist arrivals from the continent came from Zimbabwe (2028881), followed by Lesotho (1757058) and Mozambique (1268258).

Lesotho was the fastest-growing African source market last year, recording an increase of 26%.

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