Interesting Tourism and Hospitality facts and figures according to South African Tourism (2008 unless indicated):
Tourism contributed R194.5bn or 8.5% to the national GDP
South African Tourism Marketing efforts position South Africa on six main areas:
- Beach / Relaxation
- Wildlife
- Culture
- Natural Beauty
- Historical Landmarks
- Local Cuisine and Wine
South Africa Received 9.6 million foreign tourist in 2008 (up 5.5% from 2007):
- leisure travellers - 5.5 million
- business travellers- 2.5 million
- business tourist - 0.6 million
- other- 1 million
Foreign Tourist stay on average 8.2 nights:
- leisure travellers - 8.6
- business travellers - 5.1
- business tourist - 4.6
- other - 15.5
Foreign tourist to South Africa in 2008 came from:
- Africa - 7 329 103
- Africa – Land – 7 087 452
- Lesotho – 2 163 372
- Mozambique – 1 226 989
- Zimbabwe – 1 226 993
- Swaziland – 1 088 033
- Botswana – 804 701
- Namibia – 221 995
- Zambia – 193 041
- Malawi – 163 328
- Africa – Air – 306 961
- Nigeria - 43 389
- Angola – 35 993
- Kenya – 26 939
- DRC - 31 685
- Israel – 18 291
- Mauritius – 16 214
- Tanzania – 15 682
- Ghana – 13 232
- Uganda – 12 900
- Turkey – 8 945
- Saudi Arabia – 5 539
- Egypt – 4 862
- Seychelles – 2 480
- UAE – 2 454
- Reunion – 830
- Europe – 1 406 350
- UK – 486 166
- Germany – 238 306
- Netherlands – 128 097
- France – 127 956
- Italy – 55 545
- Sweden – 44 050
- Belgium – 42 276
- Ireland – 42 015
- Switzerland – 36 607
- Spain – 33 883
- Portugal – 31 762
- Denmark – 26 747
- Austria – 20 904
- Norway – 20 537
- Russian Federation – 11 945
- North America – 344 420
- USA – 287 438
- Canada – 56 904
- Other Americas – 63 066
- Asia – 201 929 and Australasia – 120 929
- Australia – 100 133
- China (incl. Hong Kong) – 40 320
- India – 51 929
- Japan – 27 621
- Republic of Korea – 20 285
- New Zealand – 19 945
- Taiwan – 10 854
- Malaysia – 8 535
- Singapore – 7 486
- Thailand – 7 126
- Philippines – 4 510
- Indonesia – 3 949
- Bangladesh – 3 042
- Sri Lanka – 1 973
- Central and South America – 62 988
- Brazil – 35 649
- Argentina – 8 704
- Mexico – 3 925
- Chile – 3 269
- Venezuela – 1 769
- Peru – 1 537
- Uruguay – 990
- Cuba – 686
- Columbia – 519
- Jamaica – 481
- Indian Ocean Islands – 19 524
Domestic tourism accounts for 78% of total tourism to South Africa
An Estimated 33 million domestic trips were undertaken in 2008:
- Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) – 71%
- Holiday – 16%
- Business – 6%
- Religious Trips – 5%
- Medical Trips – 2%
About 46% of the South African adult population travelled or undertaken trips within South Africa
Average length of Stay for domestic trips were 4.7 nights per trip
The Greatest barriers for South African to taking trips are:
- Cannot afford travel – 27%
- No reason to take a trip – 20%
- Time constraints – 15%
- Unemployed / No Income – 13%
- Dislike travelling – 8%