South Africa has been ranked number six in the top 10 world travel destinations in 2005, breaking into the top 10 for the first time to date, as determined by an annual survey by iExplore, a United States-based online seller of adventure and experiential travel.
South Africa moved up seven spots from number 13 in 2004, beating countries such as France, Italy and New Zealand.
According to a statement from iExplore released late on Monday, the best-selling destination among iExplore clients was Egypt, followed by Peru at number two, the Galapagos Islands, China and India. Rounding out the top ten were South Africa, France, Italy, New Zealand and Alaska.
Commented iExplore CEO George Deeb: ”There was no material shift in our best-selling destinations in 2005, with our top five destinations largely unchanged. That said, both South Africa and New Zealand saw strong growth to move into our annual top ten list for the first time ever.”
Other destinations posting strong growth in 2005 included Morocco (12th), Argentina (14th), and Jordan (16th). Bumped from the 2004 top ten were Chile (at number 20) and Costa Rica, with a sharp drop to number 40. – I-Net Bridge