Research on the Performance of the Services Sector

Domestic Tourism Trends

In 2010, the number of domestic trips across South Africa amounted to 29.7 million with a total spend of R21.1 billion from these trips. The Provincial trends for domestic tourists and tourism have been outlined in the following sections¹⁹. KZN was the province that attracted the highest number of domestic arrivals while the Northern Cape was the province that attracted the lowest number of domestic arrivals in 2010.

4.10.1. KwaZulu-Natal

The number of domestic arrivals to KZN has been decreasing since 2007 from 10.6 million to 8.3 million in 2010. In 2008 the total annual spend increased from R4.87 billion in 2007 to R7.77 billion in 2008, however the total annual spend has declined annually since then and in 2010 amounted to R5.64 billion. Despite these decreases in numbers the province still has the highest proportion of domestic tourists with 28.1% share of the country’s total arrivals, 26.7% share of total revenue and 29.3% share of total nights. However the major source of domestic tourists is from the province itself with 74.8% of the domestic tourists coming from KZN. The second largest source province is Gauteng with 15.5%.

4.10.2. Gauteng

The majority (72%) of domestic arrivals to Gauteng was for VFR (visiting friends or relatives), and the number of arrivals increased from 5 million in 2009 to 6.4 million in 2010. The reasons for the increase in tourist to the province may be attributed to the 2010 World Cup Soccer matches, this in turn would have affected the total annual spend for the period between 2009 and 2010. The total annual spend also increased from R3.4billion in 2009 to R4billion in 2010. Gauteng had the second largest share of the total domestic arrivals, bed nights and revenue in South Africa. The share of total arrivals was 21.5%, the share of total revenue was 18.7% and the share of total nights was 17%. The majority (53.6%) of domestic arrivals were from Gauteng followed by Limpopo with 14.3% and North West with 8.8%.

4.10.3. Eastern Cape

The majority of domestic trips to the Eastern Cape were for VFR (visiting friends or relatives), and in 2010 the Eastern Cape was ranked third in the country for domestic arrivals (13.4%), total bed nights (17%) and total revenue(11.7%) from domestic travel. However, in 2010 the number of domestic trips declined from 5.7milion in 2009 to 4 million in 2010. The annual total spends also decreased between 2009 and 2010, from R4.28 billion to R2.47 billion. This decrease in tourism revenue would have an effect on the rest of the economy in the Eastern Cape as tourism is a major economic driver in the province. This decline would have affected the employment levels negatively as well as the spending power of the local consumers which in turn would have impacted negatively on the local economy. The two major source provinces for tourists were the Western Cape with 23.8% and Gauteng with 9.8%. The majority (57.9%) of domestic tourists however come from within the Eastern Cape.

4.10.4. Western Cape

In 2010 the Western Cape was the fourth largest domestic travel destination however the number of domestic arrivals has been declining since 2007 from 4.5 million to 2.7 million in 2010. Despite the decline in arrivals in 2010 the total annual spend increased by 26% from 2009. This implies that although less people are travelling, they are either spending more money due to having more expendable income or things cost more and this is more likely to be the case as can be seen by the decrease in arrivals. People have less money to travel and so the number of arrivals in the province has decreased. The province received 9.1% of the share of total arrivals in the country, 15.6% of the share of total revenue and 10.7% of the share of total nights. The major source of domestic tourists was the province itself with 70% arrivals originating in the Western Cape; this was followed by Gauteng with 10.8% and the Eastern Cape with 7%.

4.10.5. Limpopo

Limpopo received a small share of the country’s total domestic arrivals and revenue; however the province experienced an increase in arrivals between 2009 and 2010. The number of arrivals increased from 1.9 million in 2009 to 2.9 million in 2010, this is an increase of 52%. The total annual spend also increased in the same period from R1.23billion to R1.72billion. The major source for domestic tourists was Limpopo with 50.2% followed by Gauteng with 46.7%. The share of total arrivals in the country amounted to 9.9%, while share of total revenue was 8.2% and share of total nights was 8.7%.

4.10.6. North West

The North West province received 2.5 million domestic tourists in 2010, which was an increase from the previous year’s total of 1.4million. The total annual spend in 2010 amounted to R2 billion which was an 84% increase from the previous year’s total of R1.13billion. The increase in annual revenue increased the share of total revenue from the domestic arrivals to 9.9%, while the share of total arrivals reached 8.4% and share of total nights was 7.2%. The major sources of domestic arrivals are the province itself with 35.8% and Gauteng with 46.4%. The province did not receive domestic arrivals from the Western Cape or the Eastern Cape in 2010.

4.10.7. Mpumalanga

The number of domestic arrivals to Mpumalanga did not change between 2009 and 2010, and amounted to 1.7 million for each year. The total annual spends for 2010 was R1.07 billion compared to R1.49 billion in 2009 and as such the province had a very small share of total arrivals and revenue for 2010. The share of total arrivals was 5.9%, the share of total revenue was 5.1% and the share of total nights was 6.3%. The major source of domestic tourist in 2010 was Gauteng with 69.1% followed by 24.4% domestic tourists from the province of Mpumalanga.

4.10.8. Free State

The Free State had a very small share of the total domestic arrivals and revenue in 2010. The share of total domestic arrivals amounted to 3.6%, the share of total revenue was 3.2% and the share of total nights was 3.3%. The majority (42.3%) of domestic tourists to the province was from Free State and 39.3% were from Gauteng, followed by Eastern Cape with 12.7%. The number of arrival to the Free Sate declined between 2009 and 2010, with arrivals decreasing from 1.7 million to 1.1 million. The annual spend also showed a significant decline from R 1.4 billion in 2009 to R 677 million in 2010.

4.10.9. Northern Cape

The Northern Cape received the lowest share of total domestic arrivals and revenue from domestic travel in the country. The share of total arrivals and the share of total nights was .07% each while the share of total revenue was slightly higher at 1.1%. The number of domestic arrivals declined by 66% from 600 000 domestic arrivals in 2009 to 200 000 domestic arrivals in 2010. The total annual spend also decreased from R465 million in 2009 to R223 million in 2010. The major sources of domestic tourists for the Northern Cape are the Northern Cape with 31.7% followed by Gauteng with 26.8% and the Western Cape with 26%. The Northern Cape receives domestic tourists from the provinces across the country with the exception of Limpopo.