According to Statistics South Africa, the number of visitors to the country increased by 1.4% to 1,005,286 between July and August. This reflects a 7.4% increase over the same period last year. The data also shows that visitors from neighbouring Southern African Development Community (Sadc) countries continue to dominate tourist arrivals in South Africa.
Overseas tourists made up 203,376, or 20.2%, of the total visitors, with travellers from the US (37,134), UK (25,749), and Germany (14,731) accounting for 38.2% of all visitors from abroad. The majority of tourists, about 97.6%, indicated that they were in the country on holiday. The department of tourism welcomed the growth in tourist arrivals, saying it demonstrates strong demand for South Africa.
However, the department also emphasized the need to translate growing arrivals into greater economic value. Minister of Tourism Patricia de Lille said that the focus must now be on converting demand into investment, jobs, and economic opportunities. She added that visitors need to be given more places to go, more experiences to enjoy, and more reasons to stay longer, while ensuring that the benefits of tourism reach more communities across the country.
The latest figures build on South Africa's resilient performance during the first half of the year. According to UN Tourism, the country emerged as the strongest-performing African destination during this period, recording 12% growth in international tourist arrivals compared with the first half of 2025. UN Tourism also places South Africa among the top 20 best-performing destinations globally among destinations reporting data for the first half of 2026.
Despite this growth, a report by multinational professional services firm BDO shows that Morocco and Tunisia are outstripping South Africa as Africa's most preferred tourist destination. The report notes that South Africa is struggling to attract travellers from its key Brics trade partners China and India. In fact, Chinese arrivals reached only 18,000 for the first seven months of 2026, a staggering 67% behind 2019 levels.
The BDO report also highlights the challenge posed by limited direct flights and the Middle East geopolitical crisis, which have compounded the challenge of attracting overseas visitors. The report says that South Africa lost out on R6.5bn in foreign spend last year as it continues to largely depend on SADC travellers. The tourism department is taking steps to address this challenge, including bringing together investors and tourism stakeholders to help translate tourism demand into new and expanded tourism products.
The growth in demand strengthens the case for expanding and diversifying South Africa's tourism offering. The department is hosting the South African Tourism Infrastructure Investment Summit to help achieve this goal. KEY_POINT: South Africa's tourist numbers rose 1.4% to over 1 million in July-August. KEY_POINT: The country still lags behind Morocco and Tunisia in attracting overseas visitors. KEY_POINT: South Africa lost out on R6.5bn in foreign spend last year due to limited direct flights and geopolitical challenges.
