The domestic tourism market in South Africa has shown exceptional growth in the first four months of 2019.
Domestic holiday trips rose by 59,7% when compared to the same period last year.
Overall, total domestic trips grew by 11% from January to April 2019, a healthy indication of the growing strength of the domestic tourism industry.
Declining International Tourism
Despite a strong showing during April 2019, the cumulative four-month total for international source markets reflects an overall decline of 1,3% when compared to the same period last year.
North America and Asia were the only regions to show positive growth during this period.
“We have analyzed the current international travel environment and are putting measures in place to support the growth of the local tourism industry,” South Africa Tourism acting CEO, Sthembiso Dlamini.
“We are working closely with the private sector to show confidence to the world that South Africa is indeed a memorable destination worth travelling to and visiting.”
International Destinations To Watch
The following seven markets have been identified as key focus areas for the year ahead:
- United States of America
- United Kingdom
- Germany
- India
- China
- Australia
- Nigeria
A Destination with Lots to Offer
Dlamini says South Africa Tourism is still working towards achieving its targets of having an additional 4 million international tourist arrivals and a further one million domestic holiday trips by 2021.
“In addition to this, we have heeded the call by President Cyril Ramaphosa to further boost international arrivals by doubling the number of arrivals to 21 million by 2030.”
The outlook for the rest of the year does look positive with forecasts for most regions showing reasonable growth in line with expected travelling patterns.
“South Africa remains a destination with lots to offer across all nine provinces and we are determined to show to the world the beauty that comes with South Africa along with its value for money offerings,” Dlamini concludes.