Africa is gaining in popularity as a tourist destination – but with the sheer size of the continent, which country do you choose?

Well, one simple change from one of the continent’s biggest countries has seen a flood of 8 million visitors in 2024.

After numbers dwindling in recent years, South Africa is seeing a major resurgence thanks to a change in tactic from tourism bodies.

South Africa’s tourism sector is hitting some impressive numbers as visitors from traditional markets such as the United States and Europe have been increasing.

This resurgence in numbers is largely due to the fact that South Africa is seen as a good value destination.

During the period of January to November 2024, approximately 7.9 million tourists embarked on South Africa which was an impressive 5% increase compared to the previous year. 

Among those impressive figures, roughly 2 million of them were visitors from overseas, an increase of 3.2% previously.

Striking while the iron is hot is now a new initiative for South Africa as it looks to actively address barriers which have previously hindered international tourism.

Aligned with the National Development Plan, the South African government is looking to target a staggering 15 million visitors annually by 2030.

The South African government is looking to improve travel processes in the country for a more streamlined approach while also investing in strategic marketing and critical infrastructure as seen in the recently approved Air Route Development Marketing Strategy.

De Lille further explained: “By harnessing these developments, South Africa aims to unlock tourism’s transformative potential for economic growth and job creation.”

These ambitious plans pertaining to bringing in even more visitors to South Africa will no doubt help the country with the tourist accommodation industry in particular boasting of some impressive numbers.

This sector has produced large numbers with no sign of slowing down as the total revenue for the tourist accommodation industry increased by 9.4% compared to November 2023.

Recent data revealed that the hotel sector saw a 12.1% increase in accommodation income.

These figures were driven by a 4.1% rise among the number of stay unit nights sold, alongside a 7.6% increase in the average income per stay unit night sold.

These results culminated in an occupancy rate of a whopping 46.9% for November 2024 and is steadily increasing.