Island destinations remain a favourite for South African travellers

While the past two years have seen the global tourism industry take a knock across the board, South Africans have been keen to get back out into the world and island destinations remain top of mind. 

Global travel search site Cheapflights recently categorised the top destinations for South African travellers by four categories: Top Overall Trending, Solo Trips, Under-the-Radar and Wallet-Friendly, with island destinations like Zanzibar and the Maldives remaining trendy holiday spots. 

According to Cheapflights, who analysed travel searches to identify the biggest destination trends in South African tourism for 2022, South African travellers are also spoilt for choice when it comes to budget-friendly destinations.

They broke down their findings into four main categories and believe their data “unveils some surprising insights about where South Africans are heading for exploration and leisure this year.”

Top Trending Destinations of 2022

The Top Trending Destinations are those that saw the largest rise in searches when compared to pre-pandemic 2019. Island destinations such as Zanzibar in Tanzania and Malé in the Maldives dominate the list followed by Maputo in Mozambique, Cairo in Egypt and Los Angeles in the United States. 

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Top destinations for people travelling alone 

Another trend that Cheapflights has picked up on was the rise in solo travel and not just for business purposes.

According to the data, when those looking to travel alone aren’t heading to island destinations, they are looking for beach-friendly destinations or noisy and vibrant cities. Locations such as Zanzibar and London, United Kingdom fulfil this need.

Top under-the-radar destinations

“From the top 200 most-searched destinations, the density of hotels versus searches was analysed to identify the places that may not be the first that comes to mind when planning a trip but should certainly not be missed,” said the search engine before listing Shanghai, China and New Delhi, India as the top under-the-radar destinations.

Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam also makes a surprise appearance.

Top wallet-friendly destinations

Due to the fact that the platform allows users to compare flight, hotel and rental car prices, they also have data regarding which travel destinations won’t break the bank. 

This includes popular cities such as Bangkok, Thailand (for those who love island destinations) and more off-the-beaten path, yet still trendy locations, such as Istanbul, Turkey.