Roundup: Rise in number of tourists to S. Africa

The number of tourists visiting South Africa grew 18 percent to 803,770 in February, compared with the same month last year, official figures show.

According to the figures released by Statistics SA on Monday, the number of tourists from China recorded the biggest year-on-year growth, rising nearly 60 percent to 12,370.

About 70 percent of the tourists are from member states of the Southern African Development Community bloc, which groups 15 countries.

British tourists accounted for 22.3 percent of the total non-African tourists, followed by Germans, 15.2 percent, Americans, 9.5 percent and Frenchmen, 6.2 percent. Chinese tourists came sixth.

The number of British tourists grew 14 percent to 52,280 and German tourists were up 22 percent to 35,779.

However, major players in the tourism industry seemed not excited about the boom.

David Frost, Southern African Tourism Services Association CEO, told Xinhua that there was "nothing much to celebrate" about the figures as "it represents growth of only five percent since January 2014".

Otto de Vries, CEO of the Association of SA Travel Agents, concurred with him. He said South Africa should have taken advantage of the weaker rand to lure more tourists. "Rand weakness is a major contributor to recent increases in foreign arrivals."

In January, South Africa attracted about one million tourists -- a record high for the same period since 2009, according to official data.

The number of tourists to South Africa declined last year, mainly blamed on strict visa regulations.

The government therefore later made changes to the visa regulations in a bid to lure tourists.

It has set up six visa centers in China and accredited tour operators who are permitted to book on behalf of tourists. India now has nine South African visa centers. Endit