South Africa tourism report unveils Zimbabwe and Ghana as leading international arrival market

Mitchell Dzoro

The National Department of Tourism in South Africa has released their international tourist arrivals.

Out of the 1.8million tourist arrivals from the African continent in the 1st quarter of 2024, Zimbabwe and Ghana topped the tourist arrivals list,

Minister of Tourism South Africa, Patricia de Lille said:

“Zimbabwe and Ghana stood out for their remarkable growth, with Zimbabwe experiencing a 21.8% increase in tourist arrivals to South Africa when compared to the first three months of 2023, totaling 613 675 arrivals, while Ghana recorded a 249,4% increase when compared to the same period in 2023, reaching 7,904 arrivals for January to March 2024,”

According to the South Africa’s tourism sector, the country welcomed 1.8 million tourist arrivals from the African continent which marked a significant increase of 74.5 % of all arrivals.

In the same vein, Minister Lille also expressed her delight on the continued growth in arrival numbers from the African continent especially Ghana,

“Ghana’s immense performance can be attributed to the fact South Africa and Ghana announced a visa-waiver scheme on 1 November 2023. The visa-waiver allows for travel for periods of up to 90 days within a calendar year, for purposes of business or tourism. This coupled, with targeted integrated marketing initiatives executed by South African Tourism to attract visitors from this market makes for a winning formula for the growth of our sector.”

The report also stated on the growth of arrivals from the North and South of America with 118 194 tourists being registered which saw a 12.4% growth from the 1st quarter of 2023.