Statistician General Pali Lehohla says there has been a general slow-down in the rate of growth of tourists arriving in South Africa.

Releasing the 2014 Tourism Annual Report in Pretoria on Tuesday, Lehohla said the volume of tourists increased by 0.1 percent between 2013 and 2014; 3.6 percent between 2012 and 2013 and 10.2 percent between 2011 and 2012.

He said 9.5 million tourists were recorded among a total of 15.1 million people who arrived in South Africa in 2014.

“The regional distribution of the 2014 tourists indicated that 74 percent were residents from the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) countries, 24 percent came from overseas countries while 2 percent were residents from other African countries,” Lehohla said.

According to the report, the ten leading countries for oversees tourists in 2014 were the United Kingdom with 401 914, the United States with 309 255, Germany with 274 571, France with 131 502, the Netherlands with 131 287, Australia with 111 213, India 85 639, China 82 905, Canada with 60 544 and Italy with 58 605.

A comparison of the 2014 volumes with the 2013 volumes indicates that the number of tourists decreased in all oversees countries, except for the Netherlands.

China recorded the steepest decline in the number of tourists visiting South Africa. In 2013, there were a recorded 41 650 Chinese tourists to South Africa, in 2014 there were 30 767 and in 2015 there were a recorded 19 104 tourists.

“China had the highest decrease of 45.1 percent while tourists from the Netherlands increased by 8.7 percent,” Lehohla said.

He said the main purpose of visit for foreign arrivals was holidays – at 93 percent – followed by those coming for business, work and students.

The arrivals were recorded in ports of entry throughout the country.

The report said countries in the SADC showed an increase in the number of tourists from 2013 to 2014 as Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland and Botswana increased, whilst Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, Angola and DRC showed a decrease.

According to the figures, Zimbabwe had shown an increase with 2 143 716, Lesotho with 1 501 642, Mozambique with 1 283 016, Swaziland with 918 490, Botswana with 555 590, Namibia with 211 453, Zambia with 176 972, Malawi with 166 964, Angola with 53 592 and the DRC with 29 800. – SAnews.gov.zaAlso view:

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