South Africa’s tourism industry looks set for another bumper year, says Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Valli Moosa.
”The boom just keeps going,” he said in a statement on Thursday, marking the release of the Tourism Index Quarterly Report for the period April to June 2002.
”The results of the latest tourism statistics once again confirm the fact that South Africa is the best-performing tourism destination in the world.”
Moosa said there had been a 7,2% increase in foreign tourist arrivals to the country up to the end of July this year, compared to the same period in 2001.
This increase represented more than 236 000 extra tourists, bringing the total number of visitors in that period to more than 3,5-million.
”We continue to be one of the only tourism growth markets in the world at this present time. We have managed to hold in there despite a number of accepted barriers to growth during the period in question.”
Overseas arrivals, not including Africa and the Indian Ocean islands, had shot up by 11,3%, from 831 212 to 925 043 (an increase of 93 831).
Among figures in the report highlighted by Moosa are:
— arrivals from Europe increased by 16,2% in the first seven months of this year compared to January to July 2001 (from 537 620 to 624 580);
— the number of tourists from South Africa’s ”number one” market source, the United Kingdom, increased by 19,4% over 2001 (from 195 873 to 233 910); and
— The number of United States tourists to South Africa increased in July by 2,7% compared to July 2001 (from 19 249 to 19 765).
”Things are most definitely looking set for a bumper year… These statistics vindicate our hard-nosed approach to international marketing that SA Tourism is rolling out to our key markets,” Moosa said. – Sapa