By: Natasha Archary
More US tourists visited South Africa in 2021 than other international counterparts. The country’s tourism industry used to draw in tourists from the UK and Germany annually.
This was prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, when 60% of tourists were from the UK and only 17% from the US and Canada.
The number of UK tourists dropped by more than 90% last year which can be linked to multiple red lists travel bans imposed.
Last year, almost 72,000 US tourists entered the country once travel ban restrictions were lifted.
According to Stats SA’s latest report on tourism and migration, South Africa recorded an 80% in international tourists in 2020.
A decline that worsened in 2021 with a further 50% drop in overseas visitors.
Between January and November 2021, an estimated 330, 000 international tourists were recorded in South Africa.
The ten leading countries in terms of the number of tourists visiting South Africa from Africa were:
- Nigeria
- Ghana
- Kenya
- Uganda
- Egypt
- Ethiopia
- Cameroon
- Gabon
- Côte d’Ivoire
- and Algeria
Holiday-makers constituted 92% of tourists from SADC countries compared to other African countries.
Business travellers accounted for 9.1% of tourists while students travelling made up 2.6%.
There were also visitors who came to SA for medical treatment at 0.6%.
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