This photo taken on July 17, 2023, shows the view of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Xabiso Mkhabela/Xinhua)
South Africa’s tourism industry continued to recover as more than 2.56 million people entered and exited the country in September, according to the latest tourism and migration report released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA).
JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) — South Africa’s tourism industry continued to recover as more than 2.56 million people entered and exited the country in September, according to the latest tourism and migration report released by the Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) Tuesday.
About 96 percent of the tourists were in the country for holiday purposes, said Stats SA Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke.
A comparison between the movements in September 2022 and September 2023 indicates that the volume of arrivals, departures and travelers in transit increased for both South African residents and foreign travelers, according to the report.
An elephant walks near tourists at the Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga, South Africa, Sept. 17, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Yudong)
In September, travelers in the country were made up of 766,769 South African residents and nearly 1.8 million foreign tourists, the report showed.
“South African tourism was hit hard during the first and second years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the recovery of the sector has begun, it is highly uncertain,” said Maluleke, who underlined that tourism is essential to the country’s economy. ■
