Brazilians are loving South Africa. This is according to the latest tourism and migration report by Stats SA.

Visitors to SA showed a positive growth, increasing by 12% from last year.

But it was Brazilian travellers who featured prominently in the report, with a staggering 32 368 arrivals reported. Visitors from the South American country increased by 128% year-to-date, up by 176% from the previous year.

Sthembiso Dlamini, Chief Operating Officer of South African Tourism (SAT) said reasons for this may be attributed to SA being an eight-hour flight from Brazil, and nine hours, 45 minutes from São Paulo, making SA an attractive destination for Brazilians.

“The two countries share many similarities, such as pleasant weather all year round, warm and friendly people, a love of music, and football,” said Dlamini.

She continued: “South Africa is also excellent value for money from budget to luxury for Brazilians as one real is worth four rand. As a result, a holiday in South Africa is affordable for Brazilians. Brazilians love to be indulged when they travel and South Africa offers it all – providing all kinds of tourism services and wonderful food and wine.”

Dlamini also noted that 30% of Brazilian arrivals stayed for one night in South Africa, “which is a clear indication that they also use SA as a gateway into other African countries,” she said.

South African Tourism has also done a lot of initiatives to market the destination in Brazil. These included hosting media and trade fam trips, which have resulted in an increase of awareness and positivity about SA.

The annual SAT and South African Airways roadshow had also added impetus to tourism from the market Dlamini said, with this year’s roadshow taking place from September 11-15.

Brazilian travellers were inclined to visit all nine provinces, favouring Gauteng, Western Cape and Mpumalanga.