According to data released by Statistics South Africa on Tuesday, there has been a significant increase in both international and domestic tourism numbers.
“Our tourism numbers continue to show a steady upward trajectory. We’re excited to head into summer, which is our peak season,” said Mzilikazi Themba Khumalo, South African Tourism’s Acting Chief Executive Officer in a statement on Wednesday.
Year-to-date, South Africa has received a total of 3.3 million international arrivals. This signals a 165% increase compared to the same period in 2021.
While this is great for the country’s economy, local travellers could find themselves scrambling for flights as the silly season approaches.
Various airlines were hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic which resulted in planes being grounded and other airlines calling it a day, which means a lot of capacity has been taken out of the air.
“South African Airways operates at only about 10% of its routes since it went into business rescue and doesn’t have as many aircraft as before. Comair grounded its British Airways and Kulula flights in May, and Mango is no longer flying. A lot of capacity has been taken out of the air,” said Linden Birns, owner and managing director at Plane Talking.
Birns said that while remaining airlines FlySafair, Airlink, Cemair and Lift will try to add capacity where they can by using their existing fleets and acquiring additional aircraft where possible, people may still struggle to find tickets – let alone appropriately-priced options.
ALSO SEE: Five camper trips you don’t want to miss this summer
Khumalo said more and more South Africans are opting to explore their own country. From January to August 2022, 21.3 million domestic trips were taken. This is a 140% increase compared to the same period in 2021. This is a significant growth of 92% over the 2019 pre-pandemic levels.
“Domestic spend has seen incredible growth of 190% over 2021 to reach R59.2 billion, with the average domestic tourist spending R2 781 per trip.”
While South Africans have started showing their home country some touristy love, international tourists are also still flocking to our sunny country.
International arrivals into South Africa were over half a million, (555 832) in August 2022, a 199% increase when compared to August 2021. Month-to-month, there was a 10% growth in international arrivals, when compared to July 2022.
Khumalo added that Africa and Europe have consistently been the biggest sources of arrivals to South Africa, thus far, 2.5 million arrivals were from the continent, which represents a 75% share. Arrivals from Europe came second with a share of 15%.
ALSO SEE: Zimbali – A ‘Capital’ escape into the tropics
With plane tickets already pretty much costing an arm and a leg, you’ll need every bit of advice you can get to make the most of your December vacay without being broke by 25 December.
Shafeeka Anthony, Marketing Manager of JustMoney’s first very crucial tip is to calculate what the entire trip will cost you, and check that this falls within your budget, before whipping out your credit card. He cautions travellers to remember that every trip has hidden costs and to always read the fine print.
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.