Foreigners from these 5 countries are flocking to South Africa

New data from Discovery Bank and Visa shows that foreigners from the UAE, Canada, the USA, Germany and the UK are making their way to South Africa.

This was found in the latest SpendTrend25 report by Discovery Bank and Visa. The report tracks spending habits based on an in-depth analysis of credit card spending data.

The report tracks how consumer spending has evolved between 2019 and 2024 among Discovery Bank clients and the broader South African population.

The financial service providers also commissioned an independent public survey amongst a set of South Africans to capture a more detailed perspective on spending habits.

Data from VisaNet showed that the top nation from which inbound travellers come to South Africa is the UAE, which led throughout 2024.

This is followed by Canada, where many travel from to escape the harsh Canadian winters. The UK, Germany and the US also saw travellers flock to South Africa in the local summer.

Cape Town is the main spending destination for travellers, with its share of international traveller spend sitting at 46%.

This is better than the 24% for Johannesburg and the 3% for Durban. Other South African cities hold 27% of the overall international spend.

In Cape Town, 34% of the international spend is on accommodation, 19% is on retail, 17% is for eating out, 10% is on groceries, while the remaining 20% is on other activities.

The other way around

The SpendTrend Report also looked at the most popular international destinations for South Africans.

The group noted that South Africans are travelling less, but travel spend is returning to pre-COVID levels—showing higher costs per trip.

Although overall growth in travel spend slowed in 2024 compared to the prior years, the post-pandemic recovery continues. Discovery Bank clients also travel far more, with up to 24% more spent on travel.

The United Kingdom was the most popular destination for Discovery Bank clients, making up 22% of total visits, even if its total share dropped by one percentage point.

Mauritius was in the second place at 7% followed by the USA at 6%. The UAE, Italy and Australia all saw growth of 5%.

Other popular destinations are France, Portugal, Namibia, New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland, Zimbabwe and India.

Notably, flight prices are still at astronomical levels. The most expensive destination among the top five was the USA, where round-trip flight prices increased by 16% to R37,800.

Despite decreasing by a lower 8%, Australia’s average ticket price of R31,150 is still extremely expensive.

Flights to the UK also increased by 8% to reach R22,240, while flights to the UAE jumped by 2% to R18,020. Flights to Mauritius also increased by 6% to R11,820 per flight.

However, the report noted that longer flights generally result in a longer stay in that country.

South African travellers to Australia spend 22 days there, while travellers to the UK and USA spend 17 days in those countries.

With its relatively shorter flights, travellers spend only 10 and 9 days in the UAE and Mauritius, respectively.

The report noted that while growth in travel spend slowed, spend on international platforms increased significantly, outstrippping in-store spend at international destinations.