Johannesburg 2 Sep : The number of arrivals in South Africa in the first six months of 2022 topped 2,285,746, which was up 147% when contrasted with the same period the previous year, according to Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu.Sisulu informed reporters that arrivals from the African continent grew by 109 percent when compared to the same time in 2021.
with Zimbabwe being the country that brought in the majority of arrivals to South Africa, followed by Mozambique and Lesotho according to Xinhua news agency.
The US contributed to the arrivals of 128,991 people, as did Europe 356,352.
“In the first part of the year Europe was the most successful region despite growing security concerns due to the conflict in Ukraine.The Americas are the second best performing region, and this market is slowly moving back to pre-pandemic numbers, operating at less than 40 percent below the levels of 2019.
“Recovery in Asia and the Pacific is slower because of border closures and strict travel guidelines,” said Sisulu, noting that the African air transport market resulted in 1,634,244 new arrivals.
She stated that domestic tourism had 15.2 million domestic trips in the review period more than the pre-Covid timeframe.
Sisulu attributes the improvement in tourism to the ease of the restrictions on travel after the drop in the figures for Covid-19.
She declared that the future of tourism is promising with bookings being made for next year.
“The future of the hospitality and tourism sector appears even brighter.
For August, bookings made forward rose by 328 percent (85,960).Between August and October there was a staggering 287 percent (187,667) growth in bookings.
“For the period from August to January 2023 there was a 227 percent (294,220) rise in bookings.This is a new trend, since we have noticed that international travelers are making bookings in advance to plan their next travel plans,” Sisulu explained.
