Arrivals to South Africa from the Middle East and South America in 2016 recorded the highest growth, up 36% and 34% respectively year-to-date. This is according to stats released by Statistics SA on Monday.

Total arrivals from the Middle East year-to-date were 53 536, which included arrivals from Iran, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. Arrivals from Saudi Arabia and Iran experienced significant growth, up 60% and 85% respectively.

The Middle East has been identified as a growth market for tourism to SA. Margie Whitehouse, SA Tourism’s Chief Marketing Officer, told trade in a webinar hosted by Tourism Update that budget would be invested into the Middle East.

Minister of Tourism, Derek Hanekom, also recently visited Iran as part of efforts to increase tourist arrivals to South Africa.

In 2016 a total of 64 478 arrivals were from South America. Arrivals from Argentina were up 74%, Brazil was up 32%, and Chile was up 97% year-to-date. Total arrivals from these countries were 9 517 from Argentina, 38 814 from Brazil, and 1 155 from Chile. Brazil had been in decline since November 2015, and started showing growth in March 2016. Growth from the Argentinian market began in October 2015.