South Africa Tourism on the Rise: Latest Stats & Insights (2025)

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South Africa Tourism on the Rise: Latest Stats & Insights (2025)

1. Tourism Makes a Strong Comeback in 2024–2025

South Africa welcomed 8.92 million total arrivals in 2024, a 5.1% increase over 2023, signalling a solid recovery from the pandemic depths South Africa.
Meanwhile, tourism’s share of national GDP rose to 3.3% by May 2025, up from 2.3% in 2019 Wikipedia.

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2. International Arrivals Climb in Early 2025

According to Stats SA’s international travel reports:

• April 2025 saw 1,115,585 foreign arrivals, a 19.3% increase compared to April 2024 Statistics South Africa.
• May 2025 continued the trend with 1,125,559 foreign arrivals—up 27.7% year-on-year Statistics South Africa.
• Between January and May 2025, there were 6.3 million international air arrivals, marking a 5.9% year-on-year increase Facebook.

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3. Where Are Tourists Coming From?

• The African continent remains the top source region, accounting for a substantial portion of arrivals—6.8 million tourists in 2024, or 76% of all tourist arrivals South Africa.
• In the first six months of 2025, 221,305 North American tourists visited, hitting 101% of 2019 levels—with US arrivals at 104% of the 2019 benchmark Tourism Update.

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4. Economic Impact & Employment

Tourism is a vital economic engine:

• In early 2025, the tourism industry supported 1.8 million jobs, a notable rebound since the pandemic Wikipedia.
• Before COVID-19, tourism directly contributed around R102 billion to GDP and drove 10.3% of employment nationwide Wikipedia.

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5. Key Takeaways: What This Means for Hospitality

Insight	Implication
Rising arrivals	Boosts demand for accommodation, F&B, and travel services
Regional dominance (African visitors)	Strengthens intra-African tourism development
Returning long-haul travellers	Encourages global marketing and premium offerings
Economic & job impact	Highlights tourism’s role in recovery and growth strategies