South Africa welcomed 2.2 million in first quarter

Visitor arrival numbers to South Africa have surged in the first quarter, with statistics revealing overall arrival numbers growing by 10.5 percent.

In total 2,267,807 visitors arrived in South Africa during the first three months of this year. Overseas visitor arrivals increased by 17.8 percent, Times Live reported.

Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk described the recent figures as “wonderful”.

The growth in numbers from emerging markets continued to be strong, while traditional markets showed a healthy return.

Visitor arrival numbers from Europe increased by 11.9 percent or 394,716 tourists, while the UK posted a positive 9.5 percent increase or 133,729 tourists.

“With a 15.2 percent growth rate (77,768 tourists), the country was among the best performing markets on the European continent,” Mr Van Schalkwyk said.

The United States also showed excellent growth of 16.1 percent 70,095 tourists.

“South Africa continued to enjoy fantastic growth from the emerging markets during the first quarter of this year,” Mr Van Schalkwyk added.