In July 2024, South Africa’s ports of entry and exit recorded a total of 2,395,815 travellers, comprising both arrivals, departures, and transits. This figure included 702,205 South African residents and 1,693,610 foreign travellers. Among the foreign arrivals, 922,151 were recorded, including 23,479 non-visitors and 898,672 visitors. The visitor category was further divided into 199,106 same-day visitors and 699,566 overnight visitors, also referred to as tourists.
The regional breakdown of tourists reveals that 152,082 came from overseas, 534,085 from Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries, 12,538 from other African countries, and 861 tourists whose country of residence was unspecified.
Overseas tourists accounted for 21.7% (152,082) of all tourists. The largest contributors were the United States of America (33,299), the United Kingdom (19,496), and The Netherlands (13,547), making up 43.6% of the overseas tourists.
Tourists from SADC countries made up the majority, constituting 76.3% (534,085) of all tourists. The top contributing countries were Zimbabwe (178,696), Mozambique (135,653), and Eswatini (72,368), which together accounted for 72.4% of the SADC tourists. Tourists from other African countries, excluding SADC, represented 1.8% (12,538) of all tourists, with the largest numbers coming from Kenya (3,450), Ghana (2,922), and Nigeria (1,648), collectively contributing 64.0% to this category. Lastly, the country of residence for 861 tourists (0.1%) was classified as unspecified.
These findings highlight the continued importance of regional tourism within Africa, particularly from SADC countries, while also reflecting significant contributions from key overseas markets.
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