Johannesburg – No fewer than 3.7 million tourists passed through
South African airports and border posts last month, 2% more than in December
2010.
Of these tourists, 2.5 million were foreigners.
This was a continuation of the healthy revival in tourist
numbers in the Western Cape last November.
It would appear that the Western Cape and its attractions
are still the most favoured by tourists.
Almost 1.2 million South Africans passed through the airports and
border posts, heading overseas.
When announcing these figures last week, Home Affairs
Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said most tourists had been from Britain,
America and Germany, as well as Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland,
Botswana, Namibia and Zambia.
Dlamini Zuma said her department’s advance passenger processing system and movement control system recorded these
figures at airports and border posts.
According to early estimates by SA Tourism, each foreign tourist spends an average R1 000 a day in South Africa.
Dlamini Zuma said she was convinced that every visitor to
South Africa enjoys this country’s warmth, hospitality and diversity of fauna
and flora.
Following the rise in November tourist numbers, Airports
Company South Africa ensured that sufficient staff would be on duty at
peak periods in December.
Sake24 understands the department of home affairs has
placed 350 newly-trained immigration officials at OR Tambo airport in
Johannesburg to render advanced services.
Deidre Davids, head of communications at Cape Town International
Airport, said passenger numbers there rose 6% in November.
During that month domestic arrivals at the Cape Town airport
experienced a 4% increase (300 000 passengers) compared with the corresponding
period in 2010, while 6% more people left for inland destinations.
Up to 14% more international passengers landed in Cape Town
in November, and an additional 10% departed from there on international
flights.
Davids said that since the beginning of the summer season in
October, seasonal air transport, like that of Lufthansa (which has daily
flights to Frankfurt) and Virgin (daily flights to London), has been “welcomed”
at Cape Town airport.
Air France has also recently begun a direct link between
Cape Town and Paris three times a week. Edelweiss Air flies twice a week direct
from the mother city to Zürich in Switzerland, says Davids.
Western Cape Finance, Economic Development and Tourism
Minister Alan Winde said tourism currently contributes more than 10% of
the province’s gross domestic product.
“We envisage increasing this contribution to 15% by 2015.”
- Sake24
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