The vast majority of travel searches for South Africa originate in the UK. This is according to Ricky Wilkes, Global Head of Sales for Cheapflights, a global flights search and travel deals platform, who was discussing the company’s Compass Report South Africa, which factors in searches made between April 1, 2016 and March 31, 2017.
The UK accounts for 65% of South Africa searches, which is double the number of searches originating from the other six countries included in the report combined (US, Germany, Australia, Hong Kong, China and Japan).
Wilkes says the prevalence of searches from the UK was likely due to South Africa’s favourable socio-economic and geo-political climate, with other traditionally popular destinations such as Florida and North Africa declining in popularity.
He said the UK was followed by the US and Germany, with each accounting for 11% and 10% of searches respectively.
Unsurprisingly, Wilkes points out that Johannesburg is the top destination city of choice for foreigners travelling into the country (62% of searches) – but this is largely due to the high number of direct flights from the UK into OR Tambo International Airport.
He added that, in many cases, Johannesburg is the final stop for travellers, which possibly indicates an increase in business travel over leisure. In addition, 83% and 80% respectively of travellers from China and Hong Kong favoured flying into Johannesburg over Cape Town. “With China’s growing interest in the investment and economic growth possibilities in Africa, the preference for Jo’burg may well be business related,” he said.
This was in contrast to travellers from Europe, and Germany in particular, with Germans twice as likely to choose Cape Town over Johannesburg.
“The most popular time for travelling to South Africa – December – suggests that the bulk of visitors are here on holiday,” says Wilkes. He adds that March and September were favourable times to visit too – with 11% of searches for March and 10% for September.
