According to recent flight search data from Cheapflights.co.za, these are the top five countries wishing to visit SA this year…
South Africa a firm favourite destination
Latest data from global travel search site, Cheapflights.co.za, has revealed that flight searches for travel to South Africa in the second half of 2022 are returning to pre-pandemic level. This is positive news, indeed, as it highlights the fact that travellers are once again confident enough to travel internationally.
As per Tourism Update, travellers from certain countries definitely showed more interest in flying to South Africa, with some markets even seeing larger increases when compared to 2019. New Zealand, for instance, showed an increase of 222% in flight searches to South Africa. Zimbabwe (+205%), Pakistan (+126%), Saudi Arabia (+119%) and Poland (+100%) followed close behind in the top five.
Laure Bornet, General Manager of KAYAK EMEA, which manages Cheapflights.co.za, said that these stats were incredibly positive for South Africa’s tourism sector, which has been amplifying its efforts to grow inbound travel from not just traditional source markets, but expanding its promotion further across the globe.
Top five international source markets
The data also reported the top five international source markets with the most searches for flight to our country in the second half of 2022. Which are as follows:
- UK (+27%)
- Germany (-14%)
- US (-21%)
- France (+43%)
- Austria (+87%)
The number one spot was The UK, which has long been one of South Africa’s largest tourism source markets. Searches for flights from The Uk until the end of 2022 grew about 27% compared with the same pre-pandemic period.
Other data also revealed the top ten destinations within South Africa which international travellers searched for. These were:
- Johannesburg, Gauteng
- Cape Town, Western Cape
- Stellenbosch, Western Cape
- Durban, KwaZulu Natal
- Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape
- Sun City, North West
- Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga
- Pretoria, Gauteng
- East London, Eastern Cape
- Hermanus, Western Cape
“We are seeing a global trend, where travellers want to experience new, unique and different things. And so they are looking beyond the usual favourites to see what else a country has to offer. This is very positive for a lot of local tourism players, as more eyes are turned to their offerings, linking the tourism and experience economies,” Bornet added.
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