South African tourism is recovering back to pre-Covid levels, with an uptick in Asian tourists and the highest number of visitors from its neighbouring countries as well as Germany and the United Kingdom. Asian countries such as China, Pakistan and India, saw the most applications, accounting for 35 pc of all finalised tourism visas between April 1 and May 11.

South African tourism is ‘quickly accelerating’ back to pre-Covid 2019 levels and latest data suggests an uptick in tourists from Asian countries. According to a press statement, most of South Africa’s visitors are from neighbouring countries as well as Germany and the United Kingdom, with a rise in Asian tourists over the last couple of months.

Although tourist numbers are still 21.5 pc lower than in the same period in 2019, minister of Tourism Patricia De Lille says that the industry is ‘gaining ground rapidly’.

“Tourism brings large amounts of foreign income into the South African economy. Over the first quarter of this year, foreign direct spending soared to USD 1.34 billion – a 143.9 pc increase compared to Q1 2022,” adds Lille. 

According to the Department of Home Affairs, there have been 1,648 visa applications over the period of April 1 to May 11, revealing the countries with the most interest in travelling to South Africa. Of these visa applications, 1,535 were finalised. Asian countries such as China, Pakistan and India, saw the most applications, accounting for 35 pc of all finalised tourism visas. China accounted for 12.8 pc of these applications, with 198 visas, Pakistan is second with 197 visas at 12.7 pc and India is third with 143 at 9.3 pc.

According to the tourism data, the majority of international visitors were from Africa, with 1.6 million arrivals, followed by Europe with 387,000 and the Americas, with 104,000 visitors.

“Tourists from Europe contributed the most spending of USD 572 million, followed by Africa with a collective spend of USD 493 million. The overall foreign spending figure for Q1 this year is tantalisingly close to the USD 1.35 billion spent between January and March 2019 and showcases the industry’s unwavering resilience,” says the minister.

Bordering countries like Zimbabwe and Mozambique reflected spending growth, says the statement. Zimbabwe reached a total of USD 233 million, which is 50 pc higher than 2019 and Mozambique reached USD 58 million, 12 pc higher than 2019. Spending from UK visitors decreased by 27 pc to USD 169 million, while visitors from the USA contributed USD 137 million, a 28 pc increase from 2019, adds the statement.