Preliminary findings from South Africa’s hospitality industry have indicated that the sector saw mixed results over this season’s holiday period. However, online bookings outperformed the pre-pandemic high-point of 2019.

“Preliminary survey results among FEDHASA members have a mixed response, with some showing that turnover increased for the peak December holiday period when compared with the same period in 2022 and others indicating that numbers are softer,” Rosemary Anderson, FEDHASA National Chairperson told Tourism Update.

She said restaurants in particular were split between either a profit increase or decrease, further demonstrating that margins remain under pressure. Restaurants also reported that there was a slower than usual start to the season.

Some accommodation providers noted growth in occupancy rates when compared with December 2022, although not to the levels of 2019. Preliminary feedback from FEDHASA is that the Christmas to New Year period was the best-performing in terms of occupancy. 

“Some members also noted that the average length of stay increased, which was encouraging to see.”

Anderson further noted that the 2023/2024 high season forecasting by Cape Town Tourism had highlighted barriers to travelling during the high season, such as the cost of accommodation and rising fuel costs.

“However, there was strong intent to travel, specifically 94% of respondents indicated they would be travelling domestically. This may provide some insight into the preliminary mixed response we have had so far regarding occupancy rates for the season.”

Anderson revealed that Cape Town had reported better figures than the rest of the country, largely due to season preparedness and by proactively addressing important factors such as safety and security. 

KwaZulu Natal in general had a flat to small increase in hospitality numbers when compared with the prior year. Durban saw negative growth due to beach closures. 

“This once again demonstrates how fundamentally important cross-collaboration between the private and public sectors is to set up a successful season and that basic services such as power and water as well as infrastructure are key in driving tourism confidence.

“The peak summer season is still in play, and it is important to review all data to receive a holistic and complete picture of how tourism and hospitality fared this past December holiday season. It is also important to compare year-over-year data as well as pre-COVID data to ensure accurate insight into tourism recovery and to identify opportunities in the industry,” said Anderson.

FEDHASA is still in the process of collecting information from its members until the end of January to obtain a healthy sample size, and also to factor in that the peak season is still ongoing. A holistic overview of these figures will be shared in due course.

Online bookings outperform pre-pandemic period

Online booking platform, NightsBridge told Tourism Update that for the B&Bs, guest houses, apartments, villas and boutique hotels that use its service, December had been a bumper month where bookings outperformed the pre-pandemic high-point of 2019.

The number of online bookings – based on bookings made on the NightsBridge system during December 2023 and January 2024 for South Africa only (any walk-ins or telephonic/email bookings at properties are not included in these numbers), reveal that December arrivals were 39% more than 2019 (pre-pandemic) arrivals, and 9% more than in 2022.

The exact number of arrivals during this period were the following:

• 2023: 305 500
• 2022: 280 000
• 2019: 219 300

*Note - this is number of bookings, not pax numbers. One booking could have several people on it e.g. if it was a villa, holiday home or apartment.

The number of adults/children that arrived at NightsBridge clients in December were as follows:

• December 2023: 817 213 adults and 115 367 children
• December 2022: 745 990 adults and 101 294 children

Averages:

• December 2023: 2.68 adults and 0.38 children per booking
• December 2022: 2.66 adults and 0.36 children per booking

There was a slight year-on-year increase in the average number of both adults and children that arrived per booking in December 2023. More than two adults per booking also indicate that families were most likely travelling and staying together.

January off to a fast start

The first few days of January have indicated that the year is off to a fast start in terms of online bookings.

On January 4, more online bookings were made on this day than on any other day in 2023.

Of the bookings made over the first few days of January:

• 54% will arrive in January (vs 42% same-month arrivals in January 2023; and 36% in January 2019).
• 15% will arrive in February.

It also seems that travellers are leaving it very late over the holiday season. For comparison, same-month arrivals towards the end of last year:

• December 2023 same month arrivals were 59%.
• November 2023 same month arrivals were 44%.
• October 2023 same month arrivals were 46%.

Travellers are also booking their accommodation much closer to the date they want to check in.

For bookings made at South African properties during the five weeks of December and January 2024 to date, the lead day percentages (number of days between booking and arrival) are:

• Same day: 14%
• Next day: 10%
• 2-30 days: 44%
• 31-120 days: 21%
• 121 days plus: 10%

Theresa Emerick, MD of NightsBridge, said: "Our peak season figures suggest that late bookers and price-conscious travellers had a substantial impact on booking numbers. Properties that offered last-minute deals coupled with an appealing and up-to-date online presence enticed visitors.

“A simple, frictionless booking process is the key to conversion, and NightsBridge's integrated secure payment processing had a significant impact on making it easier for guests to book."