SA’s tourism industry continues to recover from crippling lockdowns, even though tourist arrivals remain lower than pre-pandemic levels.
Data from Stats SA on Monday showed that total income for the tourist accommodation industry increased by 28% in November compared with the corresponding month in 2021.
The agency said the largest contributors to the year-on-year rise were hotels, increasing by 55%, and the ‘other’ accommodation category which rose 34.8%.
The data provides signals on the strength of GDP and activity in the tourism sector is critical for economic growth tracking estimates.
The industry, together with its strong links to other sectors of the economy and its capacity to create jobs, remains a priority area for government.
According to Stats SA, the tourism sector contributed 3.7% to GDP in 2019 (pre-Covid) and directly employed 4.7% of the total workforce.
In 2020, the sector saw huge declines in foreign arrivals and revenue. Arrivals decreased by 72.6% that year relative to 2019, or 2.8-million versus 10.3-million in 2019, with an estimated further decline to 2.3-million in 2021.
But while the sector still remains below pre-pandemic levels, it continues to grow.
Data shows that travellers from Europe made up the largest share of overseas visitors, with those from the UK dominating, followed by Germany and the Netherlands.
According to the department of home affairs, a total of 2.09-million travellers passed through the country’s ports of entry and exit in November — a 98.7% year-on-year increase.
Looking at tourist numbers specifically, there was a 105.2% annual increase.
Investec economist Lara Hodes said while local industry players have relied on domestic travellers to keep the sector afloat during the pandemic, spend by international tourists remains crucial, especially for operators in the high-end segment of the market.
Data shows that overseas tourists climbed by 286.2%, with travellers from Europe making up the largest share at around 62%.
Tourists travelling from other African countries rose by 125.6% on an annual basis between January and November 2022, with those coming from Sadc countries making up the majority.
Mozambique, Lesotho Eswatini and Botswana recorded the highest number of tourist arrivals year-to-date.
Africa economist at Oxford economics Jee-A van der Linde said though SA’s tourism industry continues to recover from the economic crippling lockdowns, tourist arrivals are on average 46% lower than pre-pandemic levels.
“With economic conditions having weakened in Western countries — especially in Europe, which is a key market for South African tourism — there is a risk that international air passenger demand may be constrained thus limiting the pace of the recovery in global travel this year,” van der Linde said.
But analysts have also warned that tourism numbers in SA will be affected by the slowing global economy, elevated inflation and tight monetary policy.
Even though high inflation and fuel prices seem to be decelerating due to a slowing global economy, they continue to adversely affect the pace of recovery of international leisure tourism.
These economic conditions are also being felt by SA’s domestic tourism, as inflation and rising fuel prices have affected both road and air travel.
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