Johannesburg remains Africa’s most popular city – Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index

The City of Johannesburg has emerged as the most popular destination city in Africa for the fifth consecutive year, according to the annual Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index.

The City of Gold attracted 4.05 million international overnight visitors in 2017. Close on its heels is Marrakech in Morocco, the second most popular African destination, welcoming 3.93 million international overnight visitors last year.

Polokwane (1.88 million), Cape Town (1.73 million) and Djerba in Tunisia (1.65 million) rounded out the top five African cities ranked in the Index.

Johannesburg also recorded the highest international overnight visitor expenditure among African cities with travellers spending US$2.14 billion (about R30.5 billion) in 2017, well ahead of Marrakech US$1.64 billion (about R23.4 billion).

On average, international visitors stayed 10.9 nights and spent US$48 (about R685) per day in Johannesburg, with shopping accounting for more than 50 per cent of their total spend.

“The City of Gold has once again topped the ranks of this year’s African index, with its mix of shopping and tourism offerings still hitting the mark with international travellers,” said Mark Elliott, division president of Mastercard Southern Africa.

“The ranking is significant for Joburg’s economic prospects as visitor expenditure contributes an important source of revenue to the retail, hospitality, restaurant and cultural sectors.”

The Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index ranks the world’s top 162 destination cities in terms of visitor volume and spends for the 2017 calendar year.

It also provides insight into the fastest growing destination cities and a deeper understanding of why people travel and how they spend around the world.

This year’s Index ranks 23 major African cities including Cairo, Nairobi, Lagos, Casablanca, Durban, Tunis, Dar es Salaam, Accra, Kampala, Maputo and Dakar among others.

As an indication of the importance of intra-regional travel, just over 57 per cent of international overnight visitors to Johannesburg in 2017 originated from five Southern African countries.

Mozambique was the number one country that sends visitors to Johannesburg, accounting for 809 000 visitors or 20 per cent of the total, followed by Lesotho (12.4 per cent), Zimbabwe (12 per cent), Botswana (6.7 per cent) and Swaziland (6.1 per cent).

According to the City of Johannesburg, the index rating affirms Johannesburg’s position as the major economic and cultural hub in Africa.

“As the strong numbers of visitors from our neighbouring countries show, Johannesburg is one of the continent’s most significant metropolises for business, trade, investment and leisure,” said City of Johannesburg Executive Mayor Herman Mashaba.

“The Index re-affirms Johannesburg’s status as a destination that continues to attract international overnight visitors each year due to its continually evolving tourism offerings from popular shopping destinations and our world-class malls to a wide range of lifestyle, sporting and business events.”

Details: Birgit.Deibele@mastercard.com