Domestic tourism: SA loves Gauteng, but Gauteng wants Limpopo – no one fancies Free State (except for Free State)

South Africans enjoyed more than 25 million tourism trips throughout the country last year, with Gauteng being the most visited province by domestic tourists and travellers.

The main reason for visiting Gauteng – for both day visitors and overnight tourists, was to visit family and friends.

The Western Cape was the second most popular province for domestic visitors and tourists combined last year, followed by Limpopo and then KwaZulu-Natal; the Free State was the least visited province.

Interestingly, while most South Africans took their travels to Gauteng, Gauteng residents chose to rather head to Limpopo and KZN.

Stats SA’s Domestic Tourism Survey for 2022, released on Tuesday, breaks down the total number of domestic tourists by province, as well as the main reasons for these visits.

1. GAUTENG

Day visits: 2,261 million
Overnight trips: 1,845 million
Total number of trips: 4,106 million

– Main purpose of visits

Day visits: Visiting family and friends (786,000)
Overnight trips: Visiting family and friends (1,09 million)

– Busiest months

Day visits: December, September
Overnight trips: December, November

2. WESTERN CAPE

Day visits: 1,789 million
Overnight trips: 2,191 million
Total number of trips: 3,98 million

– Main purpose of visits:

Day visits: Leisure (833,000)
Overnight trips: Leisure (1,261 million)

– Busiest months

Day visits: December followed by September
Overnight trips: December, October

3. LIMPOPO

Day visits: 1,591 million
Overnight trips: 2,074 million
Total number of trips: 3,665 million

– Main purpose of visits

Day visits: Shopping (898,000)
Overnight trips: Visiting family and friends (1,266 million)

– Busiest months

Day visits: August, December
Overnight trips: December, August

4. KWAZULU-NATAL

Day visits: 1,207 million
Overnight trips: 2,045 million
Total number of trips: 3,252 million

– Main purpose of visits

Day visits: Shopping (488,000)
Overnight trips: Visiting family and friends (1,017 million)

– Busiest months

Day visits: December, April
Overnight trips: December, January

5. EASTERN CAPE

Day visits: 1,145 million
Overnight trips: 1,918 million
Total number of trips: 3,063 million

– Main purpose of visits

Day visits: Shopping (463,000)
Overnight trips: Visiting family and friends (677,000)

– Busiest months

Day visits: September, December
Overnight trips: December, April

6. NORTH WEST

Day visits: 1,116 million
Overnight trips: 1,229 million
Total number of trips: 2,345 million

– Main purpose of visits

Day visits: Shopping (346,000)
Overnight trips: Visiting family and friends (682,000)

– Busiest months

Day visits: May, December
Overnight trips: February, December

7. MPUMALANGA

Day visits: 755,000
Overnight trips: 1,398 million
Total number of trips: 2,153 million

– Main purpose of visits

Day visits: Shopping (245,000)
Overnight trips: Visiting family and friends (786,000)

– Busiest months

Day visits: December, May
Overnight trips: December, March/August (tied)

8. NORTHERN CAPE

Day visits: 669,000
Overnight trips: 611,000
Total number of trips: 1,28 million

– Main purpose of visits

Day visits: Shopping (415,000)
Overnight trips: Visiting family and friends (316,000)

– Busiest months

Day visits: December, March
Overnight trips: December, April

9. FREE STATE

Day visits: 598,000
Overnight trips: 592,000
Total number of trips: 1,19 million

– Main purpose of visits

Day visits: Visiting family and friends (130,000)
Overnight trips: Visiting family and friends (250,000)

– Busiest months

Day visits: April, December
Overnight trips: December, April

Other findings of the domestic tourism survey

– Favourite overnight destinations for each province:

Western Cape residents spent most overnight stays in their own province, followed by the Eastern Cape
Eastern Cape residents spent most overnight stays in their own province, followed by the Western Cape
Northern Cape residents spent most overnight stays in their own province, followed by the North West
Free State residents spent most overnight stays in their own province, followed by Gauteng
KZN residents spent most overnight stays in their own province, followed by Gauteng
Gauteng residents spent most overnight stays in Limpopo, followed by KZN
Mpumalanga residents spent most overnight stays in Gauteng, followed by their own province
Limpopo residents spent most overnight stays in their own province, followed by Gauteng

– How much South Africans spent on travel

Stats SA says 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 spending 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.

– Spending by population group

Black Africans: The main purpose of day trips was shopping, while the main purpose of overnight trips was to visit family and friends
Coloured: The main purpose of day trips was shopping, while the main purpose of overnight trips was leisure
Indian/Asian: The main purpose of both day and overnight trips was leisure
White: The main purpose of both day and overnight trips was leisure

Stats SA states: “Black Africans undertook about 5,1 million trips to visit friends and relatives, 1,2 million for leisure purposes, and 1,2 million for medical reasons. About 1,5 million overnight trips were undertaken by the white population group for leisure and 931, 000 were taken to visit friends and relatives. Most of the trips taken by the coloured and Indian/Asian population groups were for leisure purposes and visiting friends and relatives.

– Favourite provinces to visit

Black Africans: