More people to stay home over festive season

More than three-quarters of South Africans will not be travelling over the festive season, citing petrol prices and the escalating cost of living as reasons.

This is according to an annual festive season survey by short-term loan provider Wonga, released on Tuesday.

“As many as 78% of South Africans plan to stay at home this summer, with 47% citing affordability as one of the major factors impacting their travel plans,” the survey found, while 23% said they are working over the holidays. 

“The sharp increase in the cost of fuel has no doubt affected festive season travel plans this year. More people are telling us that they will stay at home to enjoy their holiday break due to affordability reasons,” said James Williams, head of marketing at Wonga.

Of those leaving home for the holidays, 27% will be travelling to or within Gauteng, which has emerged for the first time as the most popular holiday destination. According to the research, this may be because people are choosing to travel inside their provinces.

The Western Cape came in second at 18%.

KwaZulu-Natal, which has come out tops for four years running, is down to third place with just 16% of those surveyed planning to travel there, Williams said. “This may be largely due to some of its beaches being closed this year.”

In the 2021 survey, 48% of those surveyed had planned to remain at home during the festive season. KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape and Eastern Cape were the most popular destinations.

This year, there has also been a decrease in people travelling abroad. “Just 2% of people plan to travel outside South Africa this year, compared to 5% in [pre-Covid] 2019, which may be attributed to the steep rise in airfares,” Williams said.

Despite people planning to splash out a bit over December, the average spend per person over the 2022 summer season is predicted to be down by 6%, with South Africans  budgeting an average of R5,968 each for extra expenses over this period.

Food and drink make up over a third of expenses, followed by transport, which makes up about 17% of festive budgets.

Data from the survey also indicated 30% of South Africans rely on an additional source of income, with over 46% reporting that they have a side hustle.

A sizeable 38% of South Africans say they are worse off financially than at the end of 2021.

Fewer people plan on buying gifts this festive season, and of those who will be gifting, 72% intend to spoil their family. At the top of people’s gift lists are money and gift vouchers, which is much the same as last year. The remainder of respondents intend to make their own gifts, or to purchase gifts from local craft markets.

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