Verified stats: SA sees continued tourism decline

Source: Tourism Update, 20/01/2016

At the end of October, arrivals from the US, UK and Germany were down
year to date by 7%, 2% and 9% respectively.


Overseas arrivals to SA were down 8% year to date at the end of
October, according to figures released by Stats SA this week. SA`s
biggest source markets, the US, UK and Germany are down year to date,
by 7%, 2% and 9% respectively.


David Frost, CEO of SATSA, says that this unprecedented decline comes
at a time when SA should be showing growth out of these markets.


According to him, the decline out of the US and Europe in
particular is the result of SA`s current brand positioning. Frost says
there has been a succession of negative reports about South Africa,
not related to tourism necessarily, but none the less doing damage to
the country`s brand positioning. He suggests that the public and
private sector needs to harness all its resources to arrest this
decline.


However, while overseas arrivals to SA continued to show decline, the
latest stats suggest that the decline is slowing. During October,
overseas arrivals decreased 0,1% year on year. This compares to a year
on year decline of 3% in September, 11% in August and 13% in July.


Frost said this was likely because of the exchange
rate.


Department of Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba last week hailed
SA`s peak tourism season, suggesting that foreign arrivals were up 7%
year on year for the period of December 1 to January 7. However,
Tourism Update readers questioned these figures, pointing out that
they had yet to be verified and published by Stats SA, while it was
also necessary to distinguish between foreign arrivals and actual
tourists. Stats SA has not published arrival stats past October.


While Gigaba emphasised the growth over the recent peak season, which
he said included an 8% increase out of North America and a 6% increase
out of Europe, Frost argues that for the last three months, SA should
have experienced double digit growth out of these markets given the
exchange rate. He pointed out that in the last three months, the rand
has depreciated 44% against the dollar and 38% against the pound