Afristay and Airbnb say travel in South Africa is back in a big way
Travel in South Africa is “back in a big way”, with Afristay having seen more than 110% growth than the summer period in 2019 — before Covid-19 travel restrictions kicked in.
Moreover, global accommodation platform Airbnb saw bookings for its most popular destination in South Africa, Bela Bela, grow by more than 400% in 2022 over 2021.
MyBroadband asked Afristay CEO Rupert Bryant, and Airbnb regional lead for the Middle East and Africa region Velma Corcoran, whether travel returned to normal as Covid-19 pandemic restrictions eased.
“Absolutely, in fact we are seeing growth of about +110% comparing now to even the 2019 summer period!” Bryant said.
“We’re not sure exactly why this is — perhaps there are more people travelling domestically due to the very expensive international flights, or another theory is ‘load-shedding tourism’ — remote workers travelling to destinations with redundant power supply.”
He added that it could merely be pent-up demand from South Africans after being locked down for two years.
Bryant provided an overview of online search volumes for South African travel from January 2019 to December 2022, included below.
“These come from a collection of keywords and search queries that we monitor, to give us an indication of the health and size of the SA travel market,” he said.
Airbnb’s Corcoran believes the pandemic changed the travel industry — and how people travel — for the better.
“There’s no doubt that the pandemic had a huge impact on how people travel, and in many ways, changed it for the better,” she said.
“People are more flexible about where and when they can travel, taking longer trips than ever before, and are looking to explore more corners of their own backyards.”
Corcoran said that travel to South Africa from overseas is also returning to pre-pandemic levels.
“International travel to South Africa is also returning, with nights booked on the platform by international travellers in the first three quarters of 2022 more than doubling compared to the same period in 2021,” she said.
As for Airbnb’s expectations for 2023, Corcoran said the high cost of living could see South Africans turn to home rental services like Airbnb for an additional income source and an affordable travel option.
Airbnb says its most popular travel destination is Bela Bela in Limpopo, with bookings for stays in winter months increasing by over 400% in 2022 over 2021.
“Known for its extraordinary wildlife and conservation efforts, it is no surprise that bookings on Airbnb in the area have seen an increase of more than 400% compared to 2021,” said Airbnb.
The vacation home rental service listed its ten most popular travel destinations in South Africa:
- Bela-Bela, Limpopo
- Witzenberg, Western Cape
- Theewaterskloof, Western Cape
- Saldanha Bay, Western Cape
- uMngeni, KwaZulu-Natal
- Buffalo City, Eastern Cape
- Ray Nkonyeni, KwaZulu-Natal
- Msunduzi, KwaZulu-Natal
- Drakenstein, Western Cape
- Ndlambe, Eastern Cape
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