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In this article we take a look at the number of tourists entering South Africa from the United Kingdom (UK). The South African government is punting the tourism industry as a strong job creator in South Africa. But are more tourists coming to South Africa? With high crime rates in South Africa is inbound tourism numbers hampered by South Africa's reputation as a violent and crime ridden country?
UK has always been known as a strong tourist provider to South Africa, largely due to favourable currency conditions for those living in the UK, which makes holidays in South Africa extremely cheap for UK citizens. Are UK tourists still the flocking to South Africa or are numbers declining? |
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UK citizens coming to South Africa
The interactive map below shows the number of tourists entering South Africa from the UK for May 2018 (scroll over the target in the UK to see the number travelers from the UK, or scroll over the target in South Africa to see the total number of inbound tourists arriving in South Africa during May 2018. For May 2018, 20 502 tourists arrived in South Africa from the UK. In total 1 196 107 tourists arrived in South Africa during May 2018, of which the majority those came from other African countries. Overseas arrivals in South Africa amounted to 165 137 tourists. Of overseas arrivals in South Africa during May 2018, UK travelers made up 12.41% of overseas arrivals in South Africa during May 2018. In addition to this, the UK made up 26.26% of all travelers from Europe entering South Africa during May 2018
Interestingly the number of tourists from the UK surprised that of arrivals of German tourists (only around 13 000 German tourists arrived in SA in May 2018), German tourists are usually the main source of tourists from Europe.
A woman on a beach admiring Table Mountain, one of South Africa's most popular tourist destinations
Below a summary of the tourists coming from UK per month from the start of 2017.:
While the numbers above are pretty volatile and season dependent, the tourist numbers from the UK must be a concern for the South African government looking to punt tourism as major driver of future economic growth and job creation in South Africa. The numbers recorded for May 2018 is the lowest since the start of 2017, and its almost 6 000 less visitors from the UK in May 2018 compared to the prior year. Is this due to the Soccer World Cup in Russia, in which UK tourists decided to hold off on holidays in South Africa and rather head off to Russia in June to go watch the world cup? Perhaps. Or the crime rate in South Africa and political instability in the country is starting to scare off foreign tourists, who bring with them much needed spending power.
We will keep a close eye on SA's tourism numbers. But the above is not very encouraging at all.
- Jan-17: 52 804
- Feb-17: 57 872
- Mar-17: 49 368
- Apr-17: 45 040
- May-17: 26 445
- Jun-17: 22 561
- Jul-17: 34 995
- Aug-17: 35 810
- Sep-17: 33 745
- Oct-17: 43 100
- Nov-17: 45 064
- Dec-17: 54 492
- Jan-18 : 53 374
- Feb-18 : 54 570
- Mar-18: 51 323
- Apr-18 : 35 913
- May-18; 20 502
While the numbers above are pretty volatile and season dependent, the tourist numbers from the UK must be a concern for the South African government looking to punt tourism as major driver of future economic growth and job creation in South Africa. The numbers recorded for May 2018 is the lowest since the start of 2017, and its almost 6 000 less visitors from the UK in May 2018 compared to the prior year. Is this due to the Soccer World Cup in Russia, in which UK tourists decided to hold off on holidays in South Africa and rather head off to Russia in June to go watch the world cup? Perhaps. Or the crime rate in South Africa and political instability in the country is starting to scare off foreign tourists, who bring with them much needed spending power.
We will keep a close eye on SA's tourism numbers. But the above is not very encouraging at all.