Tourism figures poser

STATS: 1.8M PEOPLE WHO ARRIVED IN SA BY ROAD IN 2019 DID NOT LEAVE

Figures from report dispel notion that SA received nearly 16m tourists.

It was probably not intentional, but the timing of the publication of a Statistics SA report on tourism turned out to be brilliant. It arrived amid the closure of international borders, news that at least 200 000 Lesotho residents were stuck in SA, the quick erection of a fence between SA and Zimbabwe, and an equally quick announcement that the auditor-general will investigate the fencing contract for irregularities.

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni unwittingly contributed to the debate on the movement of people between SA and its neighbouring countries with his remarks that SA citizens should be prioritised for scarce jobs.

Although Mboweni’s remarks irked many people, they immediately sprang to mind when reading the Stats SA report, because it shows a discrepancy of several millions in the number of “holidaymakers” who arrive in SA, mostly by road, from southern African countries and the number who return to their own countries.

While arrivals by air largely match departures, figures show that 1.8 million of the 12.3 million tourists who arrived by road during 2019 didn’t leave.

Figures for a specific year might not add up perfectly: a holidaymaker, for instance, might arrive from the UK in the second week of December and only depart in the third week of January the following year. However, similar timing of holidays in the previous year should balance the figures.

Thus, the difference of millions in the numbers year after year, together with the country of departure, beg for some explanation.

According to Stats SA, more than 15.8 million foreign travellers entered SA last year. Around 3.4 million arrived by airplane and around the same number left through the airports. Another set of figures shows that most of the arrivals by air were classified as tourists from overseas countries.

Stats SA defines a tourist as a visitor who spends at least a few nights in SA. It defines overseas countries as all countries other than African countries.

Curiously, Stats SA has a category for travellers who cross the border into SA and visit for only a single day. These tourists come mostly from neighbouring countries.

The one-day visitors declared that the purpose of their visit was a holiday, with a small percentage coming for study purposes and others for medical treatment.

A few quotes and statistics from the Stats SA report on tourism based on 2019 figures dispel the notion that SA received nearly 16 million tourists that year.

“More than three quarters of foreigners arrived (77.9%) or left (74.9%) the country by road,” according to the report, immediately showing a discrepancy between arrivals and departures.

Of the 12.3 million who arrived by road, nearly 90% arrived from Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique and Eswatini. The arrivals and departures from African countries mostly add up, except for visitors entering SA from Zimbabwe, presumably including citizens from Malawi and other countries to the north.