10.29-million
The number of foreign tourists who spent at least one night in South Africa last year.
The figure, from Stats SA, represents an increase of 2.4% over 2016 — but that’s well below the global average increase of 7%.
The number of overseas tourists (2.7 million) was up 7.2% in 2017, driven by excellent performance in the first half of the year. In the fourth quarter of 2017, however, the number of overseas tourists increased by only 3.7% — and this figure was driven down by a dismal increase of less than 1% in December 2017.
December’s performance was put down to the water crisis in Cape Town, coupled with South Africa’s strengthening currency and the impact of stringent visa regulations.
It is hoped that the SA Tourism budget increase from R1.14-billion to R1.23-billion this year will have a positive impact on marketing SA as a tourist destination and boost tourism arrivals.