A strong proportion of Tourism Update readers agree national elections in many of South Africa’s top source markets have been a major reason for muted tourist arrival figures this year. More than 100 countries, including the top source markets of the US and the UK, went to the polls in 2024.
Responding to our latest poll, 34% of readers cited elections as a major reason for dampened travel to South Africa. The largest proportion of respondents (40%) are “unsure” while 26% said this is not a major reason for lacklustre performance.
The latest International Tourism Report from Statistics South Africa shows arrivals from overseas destinations were 10% lower in September 2024 than in the same month last year. The country recorded a modest 3% increase in overseas arrivals from the start of the year to end-September – this performance was well below expectations for a full recovery to post-COVID levels.
Has ATNS chaos affected your trips?
As reported last week by Tourism Update, ATNS’s ongoing failure to provide instrument flight procedures is continuing to cause disruptions at South African airports.
Aviation expert Linden Birns said approximately 10% of flights to, from and within the country have been affected since over 300 procedures were withdrawn on July 19. The disruptions include delays, diversions and cancelled flights.
Birns cautioned that ATNS’s withdrawn instrument flight processes, along with a shortage of air traffic controllers and temporary downgrades in the classification of OR Tambo International Airport’s airspace, will continue to cause disruptions.
If you are a member of the inbound tourism industry, we would like to know whether your trips have been affected by delays and cancellations.
Our poll question this week is:
