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Cape Town - The tourism sector's income from caravan parks and camping sites almost doubled in November, the latest statistics from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) showed.
Stats SA released its preliminary tourist accommodation data for November 2017 on Monday. The results of the report are derived from a monthly survey of the tourist accommodation industry.
It shows that the category for caravan parks and camping sites recorded positive year-on-year (y/y) income growth of 96% in November 2017, while that of the category for guest-houses and guest-farms reflected positive y/y income growth of 20.3%.
Seasonally adjusted income from accommodation, however, decreased by 0.5% month-on-month (m/m) in November 2017.
Negative m/m growth rates were recorded for "other" accommodation (-4.4%); and hotels (-0.2%).
Current prices
Measured at current prices, total income for the tourist accommodation industry in SA increased by 1% in November 2017 compared to November 2016, according to the Stats SA report.
It found the main contributor to the 1% y/y increase in income from tourist accommodation in November 2017 was guest-houses and guest-farms.
Income from tourist accommodation increased by 2.6% in the three months ended November 2017 compared with the three months ended November 2016.
The main contributors to the increase over this three-month period were guest-houses and guest-farms (15.2%) and "other" accommodation (4%).
The number of stay unit nights sold in November decreased by 1.2%, while the average income per stay unit night sold increased by 2.2%.
A stay unit is defined as the unit of accommodation available to be charged out to guests, for example, a powered site in a caravan park or a room in a hotel. Stay unit nights sold is defined as the total number of stay units occupied on each night during the survey period.
December
Fin24 reported earlier that initial reports on the December 2017 peak tourism month show high growth in international arrivals, and an increase in visitors to regions across the Western Cape, according to the Western Cape tourism and investment promotion agency (Wesgro).
Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) at Cape Town International Airport registered 127 309 international arrivals for December 2017 - an 11.5% increase compared to December 2016.
Domestic arrivals by air dipped slightly by 2.2% to 389 324. Wesgro is of the view this could be because many domestic tourists travelled to the province by land.
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