Johannesburg is the African city where international tourists spend the most, according to the MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index for 2016 (MGDCI 2016). It is also the city that has shown the highest year-on-year (y/y) growth in visitor numbers of all the African cities ranked in the index.

Foreign travellers spent $2.56bn (€2.16bn) in Johannesburg in 2016, the majority of which was for shopping, followed by accommodation and dining out. This resulted in a 4% increase in international expenditure compared with 2015.



Anton van der Merwe, head of market Development at MasterCard SA, says Johannesburg is well positioned to generate economic growth for the country. “The city's mix of shopping, iconic attractions and tourism offerings is hitting the mark with international travellers.”

Which markets are drawn to Johannesburg?

About 78% of Johannesburg’s 2016 international overnight visitors travelled from the Middle East/Africa region. Of this group, Mozambique came top, with 1.02 million visitors (22% of the total). The other top countries were Zimbabwe (841 000), Lesotho (493 000), Botswana (315 000) and Swaziland (215 000).

International, overnight visitors to Johannesburg grew 24% from 2015.

Second place went to Cape Town

Cape Town came in second, with 1.52 million international overnight visitors in 2016 and an international, overnight visitor expenditure of $1.2bn (€1.01bn).

The majority of international travellers arriving in Cape Town were from the UK (335 000); US (218 000); Germany (217 000); and The Netherlands (96 000). Cape Town’s highest number of international visitors from the rest of Africa came from Namibia (144 000).

Durban remains in sixth

Durban stayed in sixth place with 758 057 international overnight visitors. It ranked eighth in terms of expenditure in Africa, with international visitors spending $314m (€266m) in 2016. Durban’s top three countries of origin for international, overnight visitors were Swaziland (295 000), Lesotho (52 000) and Zimbabwe (49 000).