South Africa saw a significant increase in tourism in December 2022.<\/p>\n
Lara Hodes at Investec<\/a> looked at the recovery of the South African tourism industry, which was heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.<\/p>\n The tourist accommodation industry’s income grew by 5.1% when measured on a month-on-month seasonally adjusted (mmsa) basis for December, compared to -2.8% mmsa before (nominal terms).<\/p>\n Receipts from the accommodation industry were at R2,128.6 million (seasonally adjusted, current prices), which is close to pre-pandemic levels.<\/p>\n Hotel occupancy levels also rose by over 40% in December – when seasonally adjusted.<\/p>\n Data from the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) said that over 2.8 million travellers went through South Africa’s ports of entry\/exit during December, with domestic and international travellers flocking to tourist hotspots. Data-wise, it represents a 37.7% month-on-month (m-o-m) increase and a 146.1% year-on-year (y-o-y) increase.<\/p>\n When looking at tourist numbers solely, there was a 157.6% annual increase<\/strong> and a 19.8% month-on-month (m-o-m) lift for December. For the whole of 2022, tourist arrivals climbed by 152.6% y-o-y.<\/p>\n International visitor numbers saw a major increase, rising by 284.0% y-o-y.<\/p>\n Travellers from Europe made the largest share (62.1%), with thousands of tourists coming from the UK (283,031), Germany (173,146), Netherlands (90,289), and France (76,077).<\/p>\n The number of travellers from other African nations also rose by 126.2% for the whole of 2022, with the majority coming from SADC countries.<\/p>\n Tourism challenges<\/strong><\/p>\n Tourism remains a key growth area for South Africa and can lead to significant job creation across South Africa.<\/p>\n “Upgrading ageing or damaged infrastructure, addressing crime and reducing red tape (amongst others) remain key and are essential to attract investment into the sector and entice travellers,” Hodes said.<\/p>\n The South African Tourism Department has recently made headlines over a controversial near R1 billion deal to sponsor English football club Tottenham Hotspur.<\/p>\n The deal is still scheduled to go ahead, despite widespread criticism from South Africans – including President Cyril Ramaphosa.<\/p>\n Acting CFO of South African Tourism Johan van der Walt resigned after it emerged he had personal links to an agency involved in the deal that would receive R33 million.<\/p>\n