Domestic trips more than doubled in the first half of 2022, exceeding prepandemic levels as the end of lockdown restrictions led to a surge in travel after two years of Covid-19-induced restrictions.
South Africans undertook 15.2-million domestic trips in the first half of 2022, exceeding the 7.1-million trips in the same period in 2021.
The pandemic, which killed more than 102,000 people by August 31 in SA, resulted in the collapse of a sector once hailed as the mainstay of economic growth on the continent. Borders were closed, flights grounded, people were locked up in their homes and interprovincial travel was scrapped as the government fought to contain the pandemic.
But as infections dwindled and the severity of the waves decreased, the sector has seen a surge in tourism in what is now called “revenge tourism”.
Revenge travel — a phrase coined in 2021 when the world began to reopen after the pandemic — describes the flood of travellers on holiday after being forced to shelve such plans as a result of the coronavirus.
“During several lockdown restrictions, most people were ‘dying’ to travel, and when the travel bans were lifted we were ready to host them,” tourism minister Lindiwe Sisulu said at a briefing on the industry’s six-month performance.
Total domestic spending rose 175.2% to R43.3bn from R15.8bn, with average spending rising to R2,850 from R2,217 in 2021. The biggest spend went towards transport and accommodation, with food and activities accounting for the rest, according to the SA Tourism Report for January-June 2022.
Prospects for the tourism and hospitality sectors are excellent, with a rise in forward bookings indicating that international tourists are planning their trips further in advance, Sisulu said.
According to the tourism report, the majority of trips came from KwaZulu-Natal, followed by Limpopo and the Eastern Cape, with the bulk of travel being intra-provincial. Visiting friends and relatives continued to be the main reason for travel.
SA Tourism runs various travel campaigns that resulted in a spike in travel during February-March because of Valentines and Easter holidays, as well as school holidays. Next week, SA Tourism will launch a “Black Friday” travel campaign, expected to be popular with South Africans.
Additionally, the sector used the pandemic to relook at their pricing model to suit domestic travel, enabling more people to travel. The organisation said on a monthly basis 2022 is performing better than 2021, but has still not reached 2019 levels. This is expected to happened in 2025.
Sisulu said international arrivals are still 54% below 2019 levels, with a steady improvement in the first half of the year. Europe was the best performing region, despite security concerns mounting due to the conflict in Ukraine.
The Americas were the second-best performing region, while recovery in Asia and the Pacific was much slower due to border closures and strict travel policies.
She said the biggest market by far was the Africa land market with 1.634-million arrivals, while Africa air travel reached 80,257.
Since the beginning of the year, Zimbabwe accounted for most arrivals to SA, with 436,193 visitors, and contributed to the best performance in April, followed by Mozambique (415,299) and Lesotho (363,564).
Travellers from other African countries come to SA for business, leisure and trading, as well as conferences and events. Many who come for business usually extend their stay to explore the country, said Sisulu.
The region that drove growth in arrivals between 2021 and 2022 was predominantly Africa (land), and the second-biggest region for growth was Europe and the Americas.
Foreign direct spending from Europe increased from R2.023bn in 2021 to R8.159bn, with Africa increasing from R4.702bn to R8.116bn in 2022.
“The strong tourism performance shows that there is renewed hope on the horizon, and the increasing tourist numbers reaffirm faith in our unique tourism products,” said Sisulu.
Update: September 1 2022
This article has been updated with additional information.
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