Kruger Park enjoys bumper holiday season
There were more visitors from Gauteng than Mpumalanga, while overseas visitors returned in droves.
SKUKUZA – The Kruger National Park (KNP) enjoyed a strong post-Covid 19 comeback over the December/January period with almost 180 000 visitors entering this world-famous wildlife haven in the space of three weeks.
The SANParks spokesperson, Ike Phaahla, attributes the park’s healthy holiday statistics to successful marketing campaigns conducted both locally and abroad.
“We had an absolutely successful holiday season. Our numerous marketing and promotional campaigns throughout 2022 encouraged tourists to enjoy their natural heritage. All the hard work certainly paid off.”
Crocodile Bridge Gate was the busiest entrance point, recording 10 015 vehicles between December 16 and January 8.
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The total number of vehicles entering the KNP during this period was 50 771, with Malelane Gate receiving 8 183 vehicles, Phabeni Gate taking 7 189 and Paul Kruger Gate seeing 7 031.
Within this three-week period, 179 416 people came to enjoy South Africa’s most famous wildlife park. 85.8% of these were South Africans and 12.5% living abroad. SADC countries represented 1.7% of visitors during this period.
Despite day visitors being subjected to the necessary quota system and having to book beforehand in order to secure entry, there were 132 102 day trippers in total.
Visitors from Gauteng topped the statistics for local travellers, comprising 30.94% of all of them. This was closely followed by Mpumalanga with 30.38%.
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Of the international guests, 25.87% came from Germany, 11.25% from the United Kingdom and 10.68% all the way from the USA.
Phaahla said, “SANParks attends the big travel and tourism shows overseas in conjunction with SA Tourism, and this, too, has paid off. We look forward to even more overseas visitors in 2023.”
All of the Kruger’s camps were very busy during this period. Balule enjoyed a 97.2% occupancy, while Letaba was 80.3% full with 97.9% occupancy for safari tents.
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Forever popular, Olifants guest houses and cottages were 100% full. Berg-en-Dal was 95.2% full with its camping ground seeing an 88.6% occupancy.
Occupancy statistics for the rest of the camps include Crocodile Bridge at 98.65%, with campsites being 92.08% full, Lower Sabie 93.7%, Pretoriuskop 87.1%, Satara 91.12% and Skukuza 87.5% with campsites being 91% occupied. Talamati was 92.11% full over the holidays.
On average, just under a million people visit the KNP every year, with South Africans usually accounting for about 80% of these. The statistics for this past holiday season reveal local visitors are still the mainstay for tourism in the Kruger.
