Decline in number of tourists visiting South Africa

Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane has noted with concern the report on the decline in the number of tourists visiting South Africa, Northglen News reports.

The figures released in Tourism and Migration September 2019 by Statistics SA revealed that the total number of tourist arrivals (7 562 743) went down by -2.1 per cent (-164 989) for the period January to September 2019, compared to the same period in 2018 (7 727 732).

“The major impact on the numbers has been the concerns around the safety and security of tourists in our country. We will at the beginning of December, jointly with our stakeholders, announce our Tourism Safety Strategy and the implementation plans as a response to the concerns raised by our key markets,” said Kubayi-Ngubane.

The decline was mostly influenced by a decrease in arrivals from Australasia and Europe, with a decrease of 5 per cent and 3.9 per cent respectively.

“Although international tourism numbers declined from January to September 2019 compared with the previous year, we are pleased that tourist arrivals from the Middle East went up by 4.2 per cent followed by Asia (1.3 per cent), Central and South America (0.3 per cent) and North America (0.2 per cent). It is a good indicator that more focused and aggressive marketing strategies in these regions will yield positive results,” Kubayi-Ngubane said.

The Minister said more work is being done in South Africa to engage various stakeholders such as airlines to have joint marketing strategies to boost numbers.