Themba Gadebe
14 May 2007
South African tourism grew by almost 14% in 2006, three times the global tourism growth rate of 4.5% for the same period, SA Tourism chief executive Moeketsi Mosola told delegates at the Tourism Indaba conference and exhibition in Durban on Saturday.
"The phenomenal growth of nearly 14% was driven off most of our target markets, with Africa leading at 16.9%, followed by America at 11.2%, Asia and Australia at 9.8%, and Europe showing a steady increase of 5.6%," Mosola said.
Almost 8.4-million tourists visited South Africa in 2006 - over a million more than in 2005, representing a 13.9% increase - as the country broke its annual tourist arrivals record for the second year running.
According to the World Tourism Organisation's, the global tourism growth rate for 2006 was 4.5%
More air routes lead to SA
In addition, Mosola noted, more air routes from various countries were beginning to lead to South Africa.
France recently launched two extra weekly flights between Johannesburg and Paris, bringing the total number of weekly flights to 14.
"When one adds this to the flights already offered, there are 28 flights per week between Johannesburg and the European hubs of Amsterdam and Paris," Mosola said.
China Eastern Airlines has also announced its first direct service between China and South Africa.
Hotel occupancy up
South Africa's tourism boom has had a predictable knock-on effect on the performance of the country's hotels.
In its latest tourist accommodation survey, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) reported a 6.4% increase in occupancy rates at hotels, guest houses and other forms of accommodation in 2006 as compared to 2005 - from 17 227 200 to 18 330 900 individual stays.
Income from accommodation totalled almost R1.3-billion in 2006, Stats SA said, an increase of 17.7% over 2005.
International tourism to South Africa has surged since the end of apartheid. In 1994, the year of South Africa's first democratic elections, only 3-million foreign visitors arrived in the country.
By 2004, international arrivals had more than doubled to 6.7-million, and in 2006 they surged to a record 8.4-million.
Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said tourism's contribution to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) had grown from 4.6% in 1993 to 8.3% in 2006. "We are now looking to increase our GDP contribution to 12% by 2014," Van Schalkwyk said.
Tourism key to Asgi-SA
The latest figures come at a time when South Africa is looking to tourism to boost its already impressive economic growth.
Tourism, along with biofuels and business process outsourcing, have been identified as key high-growth potential areas in the government's Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (Asgi-SA), which seeks to raise the country's economic growth rate to 6% and halve poverty and unemployment by 2014.
Earlier this year, Deputy President Mlambo-Ngcuka - who heads up Asgi-SA - said tourism "has already grown rapidly in South Africa, but is ready for a second phase of growth that could take its contribution to GDP from about 8% to about 12%, and increase employment by up to 400 000 people".
SouthAfrica.info reporter and BuaNews
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