Overseas arrivals in South Africa during the low season remain stagnant in comparison with 2019 – visitor numbers during July were just 80% of pre-COVID pandemic levels. The 152 082 arrivals are also 6% down from July last year. Intra-African arrivals counteracted this negative performance with a 3,2% rise to 546 623, which helped the country achieve overall year-on-year arrival growth of 1,1%.

The latest International Tourism Report from Statistics South Africa shows arrivals from the vast majority of the country’s top overseas source markets are down from July last year. Of the traditional top 10 source markets, the UK market has been hardest hit with a 26,2% decrease to 19 496 arrivals. Arrivals from the European continent dropped by 14% overall with Portugal the only tracked country showing an increase of 4,3%.

The US market continues to buoy the country’s tourism sector with a year-on-year increase of 5,3%. Arrivals from this market totalled 33 299, which is just under 14 000 more than the second-largest overseas market of the UK and almost on par with the 34 098 arrivals recorded in July 2019.

Encouragingly, reintroduction of direct flights from Brazil and Australia appears to be bearing fruit. Arrivals from South America and Central America increased by 103% from July last year – led by Brazil with a 195,2% increase to 5 192 arrivals. Arrivals from Australasia were 11,6% higher year-on-year at 9 084.

Click here to view our interactive displays of data on the latest overseas arrivals.