30 March 2007
Almost 8.4-million tourists visited South Africa in 2006 - over a million more than in 2005, representing a 13.6% increase - as the country broke its annual tourist arrivals record for the second year running.
Announcing the latest figures in a statement issued on Wednesday, Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said South Africa had received more visitors from every region of the world.
"We had an increase of more than 73 000 visitors from Europe, almost 30 000 more visitors from North America, and over 30 000 more visitors from Asia, Australasia and the Middle East," the minister said.
While the country's growth rate for overseas arrivals kept pace with international industry growth, a 16.9% growth in arrivals from Africa far exceeded the international benchmark.
One key market that did not show growth, Van Schalkwyk said, was China. He said he was confident, however, that SA Tourism could turn this around.
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.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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