Overseas tourist arrivals for May were down 6% to 138 258 compared with 146 342 in May last year, according to the latest arrival stats published by Statistics South Africa.

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This comes after a dramatic 24% drop in overseas arrivals in April, year on year. Patrick Menzies, SAA Sales Manager for Scandinavia, Finland & The Baltics, pointed out at the time that the decline in April could possibly be attributed to Easter holidays falling in March this year. Other factors believed to be behind the decline include the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa, incidents of xenophobic violence and SA’s new immigration regulations.

Of SA’s traditional markets, Germany was hardest hit, with arrivals down 6% to 10 886, compared with 11 601 last year. The UK and US were both down 2% to 20 895 and 28 279 respectively.

Other traditional markets showed growth. The Netherlands was up 7% to 6 097 from 5 677 and France was up 3% to 7 748 from 7 554.

Year to date, overseas arrivals are down 10%. Arrivals from the US are down 7%; the UK is down 10%; Germany is down 10%; and The Netherlands is down 9%. China is down 31% and India is down 13%.

To view the stats report for May, click here.