Tourists keep flocking to SA
int.iol.co.za
Tourism to South Africa grew by 13,9 percent in 2006, while the global tourism industry only grew by 4,5 percent, SA Tourism said on Wednesday.
Research done by SA Tourism showed compound annual growth of 6,9 percent over the five-year period of 2002 to 2006.
There were 35,4 million visitors during the period 2002 to 2006 - 23 million visited for leisure purposes, and 10 million were long-haul visitors.
Long-haul visitors come from places far removed from South Africa such as Australia, Europe, the Americas and Asia.
The remaining 12,4 million visitors mainly came from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region to visit friends and family and to shop.
Included in the 12,4 million are those visitors who came for business purposes from all over the world.
Foreign tourists numbering 8,4 million visited South Africa in 2006 alone and domestic tourism added R16,5-billion to the national economy in this year.
R222-billion came from tourists during the period 2003 to 2006. SADC visitors were responsible for 60 percent of this total.
There was a decrease in the average length of stay from 9,6 days in 2003 to 8,2 days in 2006.
This was consistent with global tourism trends, SA Tourism said.
Foreign direct spending grew by more than nine percent over the 2002 to 2006 period. This figure excluded capital expenditure for business purposes.
Per day and per trip spending from SADC visitors increased but decreased from long-haul visitors between 2002 and 2006.
