{"id":55533,"date":"2014-04-11T00:05:33","date_gmt":"2014-04-10T22:05:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=55533"},"modified":"2014-04-10T21:20:13","modified_gmt":"2014-04-10T19:20:13","slug":"south-africas-top-travel-destinations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/trending\/55533\/south-africas-top-travel-destinations\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa’s top travel destinations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cape Town has been named one of the top destinations in the world – and second in Africa – according to TripAdvisor’s 2014 Travelers’ Choice awards.<\/p>\n

Istanbul, Turkey, was voted at the world’s top destination, having climbed 11 places since 2013’s list, followed by Rome, Italy (2nd) and London, England (3rd).<\/p>\n

TripAdvisor winners were determined using an algorithm that took into account the quantity and quality of reviews and ratings for hotels, attractions and restaurants in destinations worldwide, gathered over a 12-month period.<\/p>\n

TripAdvisor recorded more than 260 million unique monthly visitors in 2013, and more than 150 million reviews and opinions covering more than 3.7 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions.<\/p>\n

Six of the top 25 world spots are from Asia and four Asian cities saw a climb of at least 10 places in the world top 25 list year-over-year.<\/p>\n

Marrakech, Morocco (6th) climbed 13 places in the 2014 rankings, and is the only other African destination to make the top 25, above Cape Town, which was ranked 19th (down 3 places since 2013).<\/p>\n

Top 25 global destinations<\/h3>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
#<\/strong><\/td>\nCity<\/strong><\/td>\nCountry<\/strong><\/td>\nChange<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/td>\nIstanbul<\/td>\nTurkey<\/td>\n+11<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nRome<\/td>\nItaly<\/td>\n+2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\nLondon<\/td>\nEngland<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\nBeijing<\/td>\nChina<\/td>\n+17<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/td>\nPrague<\/td>\nCzech Republic<\/td>\n+4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/td>\nMarrakech<\/td>\nMorocco<\/td>\n+13<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/td>\nParis<\/td>\nFrance<\/td>\n-6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/td>\nHanoi<\/td>\nVietnam<\/td>\nNew<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/td>\nSiem Reap<\/td>\nCambodia<\/td>\n+14<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/td>\nShanghai<\/td>\nChina<\/td>\n+12<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11<\/td>\nBerlin<\/td>\nGermany<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12<\/td>\nNew York City<\/td>\nUSA<\/td>\n-10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
13<\/td>\nFlorence<\/td>\nItaly<\/td>\n-5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
14<\/td>\nBuenos Aires<\/td>\nArgentina<\/td>\n+4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
15<\/td>\nBarcelona<\/td>\nSpain<\/td>\n-10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
16<\/td>\nSt. Petersburg<\/td>\nRussia<\/td>\n+4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
17<\/td>\nDubai<\/td>\nUAE<\/td>\nNew<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
18<\/td>\nChicago<\/td>\nUSA<\/td>\n-4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
19<\/strong><\/td>\nCape Town<\/strong><\/td>\nSouth Africa<\/strong><\/td>\n-3<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
20<\/td>\nBangkok<\/td>\nThailand<\/td>\n-7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
21<\/td>\nBudapest<\/td>\nHungary<\/td>\nNew<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
22<\/td>\nSydney<\/td>\nAustralia<\/td>\n-12<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
23<\/td>\nLisbon<\/td>\nPortugal<\/td>\nNew<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
24<\/td>\nChiang Mai<\/td>\nThailand<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
25<\/td>\nSan Francisco<\/td>\nUSA<\/td>\n-18<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

Looking at Africa, Marrakech was rated as the top destination on the continent, with Cape Town ranked second. Moroccan and South African cities dominated the top destinations list for Africa.<\/p>\n

A total of 6 Moroccan and 11 South Africa cities were listed in the top 25 destinations for Africa, with Kenya representing 4 spots and Mauritius, Gambia, Tanzania, and Tunisia having one city each.<\/p>\n

Knysna, along South Africa’s Garden Route, was listed in 6th, followed by Franschhoek (7th), Joburg (8th), Paarl (11th), Hermanus (13th), Plettenburg Bay (14th) and Stellenbosch (15th).<\/p>\n

Pretoria (20th), Durban (21st) and Hazyview (22nd) rounded off the top South African destinations.<\/p>\n

Top 25 African destinations<\/h3>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
#<\/strong><\/td>\nCity<\/strong><\/td>\nCountry<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/td>\nMarrakech<\/td>\nMorocco<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nCape Town<\/td>\nSouth Africa<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\nFes<\/td>\nMorocco<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\nEssaouira<\/td>\nMorocco<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/td>\nMerzouga<\/td>\nMorocco<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/td>\nKnysna<\/td>\nSouth Africa<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/td>\nFranschhoek<\/td>\nSouth Africa<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/td>\nJohannesburg<\/td>\nSouth Africa<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/td>\nNairobi<\/td>\nKenya<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/td>\nWatamu<\/td>\nKenya<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11<\/td>\nPaarl<\/td>\nSouth Africa<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12<\/td>\nOuarzazate<\/td>\nMorocco<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
13<\/td>\nHermanus<\/td>\nSouth Africa<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
14<\/td>\nPlettenburg Bay<\/td>\nSouth Africa<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
15<\/td>\nStellenbosch<\/td>\nSouth Africa<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
16<\/td>\nMombosa<\/td>\nKenya<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
17<\/td>\nDiani Beach<\/td>\nKenya<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
18<\/td>\nStone Town<\/td>\nTanzania<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
19<\/td>\nGrand Baie<\/td>\nMauritius<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
20<\/td>\nPretoria<\/td>\nSouth Africa<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
21<\/td>\nDurban<\/td>\nSouth Africa<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
22<\/td>\nHazyview<\/td>\nSouth Africa<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
23<\/td>\nKoloi<\/td>\nGambia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
24<\/td>\nHoumt Souk<\/td>\nTunisia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
25<\/td>\nCasablanca<\/td>\nMorocco<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

Cape Town tourism boom<\/h3>\n

International arrivals to Cape Town over the 2013\/14 summer season were up by 15 percent compared to the previous year, the city’s tourism director Anton Groenewald said on Wednesday (9 April).<\/p>\n

Arrivals from regional Africa by air also increased from October 2013, culminating in 17 percent more of these visitors in February this year.<\/p>\n

The top five countries of origin for tourists to Cape Town were South Africa itself, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

Groenewald said three-quarters of tourism businesses — such as attractions, tour operators, restaurants, and wine farms — recorded more bookings for January and February than they did the same time last year.<\/p>\n

December 2013 was the best summer month for surveyed major tourist attractions.<\/p>\n

Cape Point and the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway both had record growth with more than 100,000 visitors each.<\/p>\n

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens also had a record number of visitors.<\/p>\n

“The V&A Waterfront saw its highest-ever number of visitors [at] 24 million in 2013, including 175,000 visitors on December 31, 2013 alone.”<\/p>\n

There was an overall upward trend in accommodation figures, with revenue per available room increasing by an average 16 percent per month between October and December last year.<\/p>\n

Cape Town Tourism CEO Enver Duminy said a “cocktail” of factors had contributed to the increase in visitors and bookings.<\/p>\n

These included a weak rand, a value-for-money offering, and the city being seen as desirable after a slew of international accolades.<\/p>\n

Groenewald said it was the city’s vision to grow the events calendar and tourism numbers during winter too.<\/p>\n

“Several new events are being mooted for Cape Town over the next few months, including a new performing arts festival inspired by the energy and ethos of popular fringe festivals in New York, Amsterdam, Adelaide, and Edinburgh,” he said.<\/p>\n

(with Sapa)<\/p>\n

More on South Africa<\/h3>\n

These companies are richer than South Africa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

South Africa loses its economic crown<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Cape Town is a world class African city<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Uncertainty in South Africa costing billions<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TripAdvisor’s 2014 Travelers’ Choice awards make mention of at least one South African city as a top global destination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":16716,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2279,26,853,7731],"class_list":["post-55533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending","tag-cape-town","tag-headline","tag-south-africa","tag-tripadvisor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55533"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55538,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55533\/revisions\/55538"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}