THE Free State was one of the two provinces least visited by tourists in 2021 and 2022, a survey has revealed.
Findings of the Domestic Tourism Survey 2022, released by Stats SA this week, reflect the total number of day and overnight trips taken across South Africa during the 12-month periods from January to December 2021 and January to December 2022.
About 16 million day trips and 10.9 million overnight trips were undertaken in 2021.
Furthermore, the results indicate that there were 33.1 million day trips and 23.2 million overnight trips taken within South Africa in 2022.
In 2021, the provinces that were least visited by day travellers were the Free State that accounted for only 5.4 percent of the country’s total trips and the Northern Cape with 5.0 percent.
During that period, the main destination for day travellers was Gauteng (18.8 percent), followed by Limpopo (17.6 percent) and the Eastern Cape (12.8 percent).
The following year, the Free State slipped to the bottom of the rankings for day travellers, with the province recording the least number of trips at 5.4 percent, followed by the Northern Cape at 6.0 percent.
The main destination for day travellers in 2022 was Gauteng (20.3 percent), followed by the Western Cape (16.1 percent) and Limpopo (14.3 percent).
The Free State and the Northern Cape did not fare any better on overnight trips in 2021, with the provinces accounting for 5.4 percent and 3.5 percent respectively, while tourists mostly preferred visiting Limpopo (20.3 percent), Gauteng (15.1 percent) and KwaZulu-Natal (14.9percent).
In 2022, the Free State recorded the least number of overnight trips at 4.3 percent, just behind the Northern Cape at 4.4 percent, with the Western Cape leading at 15.8 percent, followed by Limpopo (14.9 percent), KwaZulu-Natal at 14.7 percent and then the Eastern Cape and Gauteng at 13.8 percent and 13.3 percent respectively.
According to the findings, total expenditure on domestic trips incurred across South Africa in 2021 was approximately R36.4 billion – this constitutes day trip spending of about R23.8 billion, while spending on overnight trips amounted to R12,6 billion.
Overnight expenditure was mostly driven by high expenditure on shopping (R4 billion), followed by domestic transport (R3.8 billion), food and beverages (R2.9 billion) and accommodation (R1.2 billion).
On the other hand, total expenditure on domestic trips for the year 2022 was approximately R41.2 billion – this was made up of day trip spending of about R25.3 billion and spending on overnight trips that amounted to R15.9 billion.
Overnight expenditure was mostly driven by high expenditure on domestic transport (R5.5 billion), followed by shopping (R4.5 billion) and food and beverages (R3 billion).
Recreation and culture spending was the least for both day and overnight trips in both years.
The survey report says, in 2022, shopping and visiting friends and relatives were the main reasons cited by approximately 35.3 million and 21.7 million travellers, respectively.
Most day travellers and tourists were more likely to use cars and taxis to reach their destinations.
In 2021, according to the findings, the most prevalent reasons provided for not taking day and overnight trips were financial reasons followed by lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2022, the most prevalent reasons given for not taking day and overnight trips were financial reasons, as well as no reason to undertake a trip. – Staff Reporter