South African Tourism targets 72% increase in arrivals from India in 2023

Chennai, February 2023: South Africa emerged as one of the leading travel destinations for Indians in 2022. Owing to its robust recovery efforts and aim to promote diverse, authentic destination offerings through the More & More campaign, an increasing number of Indian travellers are choosing South Africa as their next adventure destination. Witnessing over a 200% surge in travellers from India compared to the previous year, the Rainbow Nation welcomed nearly 50,000 Indians till November last year. The growth resulted in South African Tourism significantly exceeding its goal of bringing 33,900 plus visitors set at the beginning of the recovery year.

To propel the momentum further, South African Tourism is organising Roadshows in key Indian cities – Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Mumbai between 13^th and 16^thFebruary along with its 35-member trade delegation showcasing innovative and one-of-a-kind offerings for Indian consumers and trade partners. Participating exhibitors represented key regions such as Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Limpopo, and Eastern Cape aspiring for fruitful partnerships. The Roadshow held in Chennai resulted in reinforcement of existing business deals between key Indian and South African trade partners as well as paved the way towards building many such meaningful partnerships in the near future.

In 2022, India moved up two spots to become the 6^thlargest international source market for driving tourism in South Africa. Providing guidance on its strategic roadmap for 2023, tourism board is aiming to achieve a substantial increase of 72% in Indian travellers over their previous year’s target. Confident in retaining the momentum, the tourism board will closely work with its trade partners to offer carefully curated itineraries comprising exceptional yet affordable stay amenities, luxury experiences, offbeat activities, advanced MICE infrastructure along with adventure, wildlife, and culinary activities.

“This is the 19th edition of our annual India Roadshow, and each time we are humbled by the warmth destination South Africa receives from travellers across the country. India continues to remain one of our key focus markets globally and it is encouraging to see upward growth from emerging cities like Kolkata, Chennai, and Hyderabad, while traditional markets like Mumbai and Delhi continue to flourish. Building on this momentum further, we recently launched the second leg of our More & More campaign to engage with the audience from our target regions within India through desi and localized content. Through our customized engagement models we hope to further build aspiration and intent to travel,” said Neliswa Nkani, Hub Head, MEISEA, South African Tourism.

Chennai is a strategically important market for South African Tourism and is projected to grow at 30% CAGR to become the highest Indian growth market for the tourism board by 2025. Most visitors from the city have an inclined preference towards South Africa as their summer travel destination. The relaxation in travel norms post the pandemic has been one of the biggest motivators and is showing no signs of slowing down.

Against the backdrop of celebrating the completion of 30-years of bilateral relations with India, during the press conference, South African Tourism rejoiced over its shared rich heritage and warm hospitable culture that brings the two countries together. At present, several stop-over flights fly from India to South Africa, including Emirates, Qatar Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airways, and Air Seychelles.

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