The US surpasses the UK as top tourism market for South Africa

Saturday, July 9, 2022

The South African Tourism said that the US grabbed the top spot for visitors to South Africa for the first time taking into consideration out of the country tourism markets in 2021. The US even surpassed the UK, which was the number one market for South Africa since 1994.

In the year 2021, the US also topped the list with regard to income among the overseas markets, with 2.3 billion South African rands. The average tourist expenditure of 31,100 rands was higher than pre-pandemic levels of 22,900 rands in 2019.

This boost was mainly driven by holiday tourism performance and shopping activities, which went up by 17 per cent and 22 per cent, respectively.

The US also grabbed the top spot with regard to growth in tourist numbers in 2021, with a total of 82,020 arrivals. This number is a 14 per cent boost compared to 2020. However, the total quantity of tourist arrivals is still much lesser when compared to the level before the pandemic set in.

Keeping an eye on the statistics, in 2021, which is similar to that of 2019, eating out, shopping, natural attractions, wildlife seeing and socializing featured among the top 5 activities that lured the US tourists. Visitors who came from the US for the first time also went up to 70.1 per cent in 2021, as per official data.

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