Having analysed 800 000 individual trips booked on its platform departing from local airports since the start of 2017, online travel booking website Travelstart has revealed the most popular destinations for South Africans.
At the top of the list of domestic destinations loved by South Africans is Cape Town, followed by Johannesburg (OR Tambo Airport) and Durban in third position – all of which have maintained their position as the top three destinations for the past four consecutive years, according to All4Women. Johannesburg’s Lanseria Airport came in at fourth position, with Port Elizabeth in fifth.
“Since 2014, there has been little movement in the domestic category, with Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban maintaining their first, second and third place rankings respectively for the past 4 years. In 2017, George Airport exited the top 10 domestic destinations list after appearing consecutively in 2015 and 2016,” states TravelStart.
When it comes to international destinations for 2018, the capital of Zimbabwe, Harare, ranked the highest, knocking London down to second position. According to TravelStart, the growth my be attributed to Zimbabwe’s changing political climate.
In third position is Windhoek, followed by Mauritius, and then New York City in fifth place. The Big Apple makes it into the top five for the first time.
The study looked at trips from airports such as OR Tambo, Cape Town, King Shaka and others.
Regional routes that are on the rise from Johannesburg include Windhoek and Harare, which saw a 51% and 118% increase respectively. Internationally, notable routes on the rise include flights to London Heathrow from Johannesburg, which saw a 88% increase for the period between 2014-2017.
For the period between 2014-2017, the report also shows an increase in outbound passenger numbers from Durban’s King Shaka Airport to Dubai by 273% and London by 118%, while Cape Town saw a spike in outbound trips to London by 62%, Windhoek by 107% and Walvis Bay, Namibia, by 219%.
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