Johannesburg - Over 1.2 million foreign travellers arrived in South Africa in July 2013 - a year-on-year increase of 12 percent, Statistics SA (StatsSA) reported.
“In July 2013, there were 1,289,022 foreign arrivals to South Africa,” StatsSA said in a report.
“A majority (one percent ) were in South Africa for holidays, compared to only 6.5 percent, 1.8 percent and 1.6 percent of tourists who were in South Africa in transit, for business, and for study purposes respectively.”
In July 2012, South Africa had 1,195,266 foreign travellers visit the country.
Of the tourists who visited the country this year, 204 120 were from overseas, and 564 460 were from Southern African Development Community countries.
The data indicated that a total of 3,285,691 travellers - arrivals and departures - passed through all South African ports of entry in July 2013. This was about 200 000 more than last year.
Air travel was most popular with tourists, with 89.4 percent of overseas tourists arriving in the country by air, and 10.6 percent by road. - Sapa