South Africa is a major globaltourist destination, with the tourism industry accounting for 3.3% of the country's GDP as of May 2025, according toStatistics South Africa (Stats SA).[1]
In 2024, South Africa experienced a growth in tourism numbers, with combined passenger arrivals through its various ports of entry increasing to 8.92 million people.[1]
In 2025, South Africa was rated as the 4th best country in the world for tourism, as well as the best in the Africa and Indian Ocean region, byThe Telegraph.[2]
According to theWorld Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the tourism industry directly contributedR102 billion to South Africa'sGDP in 2012, and supports 10.3% of the country's employment.[3] 1.8 million people were employed in South Africa's tourism sector in early 2025, and this number is expected to grow significantly over the coming few years.[1]
South Africa offers both domestic and international tourists a wide variety of options, among others thepicturesque natural landscape andgame reserves, diversecultural heritage andhighly regarded wines. Some of the most popular destinations include several national parks, such as the expansiveKruger National Park in the north of the country, the coastlines and beaches of theKwaZulu-Natal andWestern Cape provinces, and the major cities ofCape Town,Durban, andJohannesburg.
The top five overseas countries with the largest number of tourists visiting South Africa in 2017 were theUnited States, theUnited Kingdom,Germany, theNetherlands, andFrance. Most of the tourists arriving in South Africa from elsewhere in Africa came fromSouthern African Development Community (SADC) countries. In terms of tourists from SADC countries,Zimbabwe topped the list at 31%, followed byLesotho,Mozambique,Eswatini, andBotswana. In addition,Nigeria was the country of origin for nearly 30% of tourists arriving in South Africa.[4]
South Africa is ranked nineteenth out of the world's twentymegadiverse countries[5] South Africa is home to a large variety of animal life. Among the large mammals found in the northernbushveld include lions, leopards, cheetahs, white rhinoceroses, blue wildebeest, kudus, impalas, hyenas, hippopotamuses and giraffes. A significant extent of the bushveld exists in the north-east, including theKruger National Park, one of the largest game reserves in Africa, and theSabi Sand Game Reserve.
The Kruger National Park, established in 1926, is one of the most visited national parks in the country, with a total of 1 659 793 visitors in the 2014/15 period.[6] The region is also home to nearly 80 percent of the world's rhino population. Due to COVID-19 restrictions impeding tourism and movement in the region, the killings of rhino species in South Africa have fallen by 53 percent in 2020.[7]
The country is also particularly rich in plant diversity, with a wide variety of biomes found across the country. These include the grasslands in the Highveld, thesucculent Karoo in central South Africa, and the endemicfynbos biome, constituting the majority of the area and plant life in theCape floristic region of the Western Cape. This rare vegetation is protected as part of theTable Mountain National Park (which also includes the iconic flat-toppedTable Mountain), which was the most-visited national park in South Africa in 2014/15, with a total of 2 677 767 visitors.[6]
Ecotourism is the concept of responsibletravel to areas that might beprotected, and possibly rated as especially fragile. The intent behind ecotourism is to create as little detrimental impact on theenvironment as possible.
As one of the world's fewmegadiverse countries,South Africa has used ecotourism to sustain and improve its immensebiodiversity, as well as invigorate its economy. Tourism is the fourth largest generator of foreign exchange in South Africa,[8] and ecotourism is the idea of encouraging visitors while promoting and supporting a country's biodiversity.
South Africa contains an immense degree of biodiversity, and thus, ecotourism is a way for the country to benefit from wildlife in a non-consumptive and legal manner, as opposed to allowing illegal activities likepoaching and trafficking for the internationalwildlife trade - things which are strictly prohibited, and actively prevented in the country.
In addition to its numerous natural attractions, South Africa also boasts numerous attractions of cultural significance. These include the fossil-bearing caves forming part of theCradle of Humankind inGauteng, the ruins of theKingdom of Mapungubwe in northernLimpopo, thewine routes of the Western Cape, and various historical sites in the cities of Cape Town and Johannesburg (such asRobben Island, theCastle of Good Hope andSoweto township).
Ten South African sites are inscribed on theUNESCO World Heritage List, including theiSimangaliso Wetland Park anduKhahlamba Drakensberg Park in KwaZulu-Natal. There are five Cultural WHS, four Natural WHS and 1 mixed WHS.
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In 2024, according toStatistics South Africa (Stats SA), South Africa experienced a growth in tourism numbers, with combined passenger arrivals through its ports of entry increasing to 8.92 million people.[1]
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Last update: Table only goes up to 2020(October 2025) |
| Foreign traveller arrivals (2000–2020)[12] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Foreign arrivals (in thousands) | Year | Foreign Arrivals (in thousands) | Year | Foreign Arrivals (in thousands) |
| 2000 | 6,001 | 2008 | 9,729 | 2016 | 9,729 |
| 2001 | 5,908 | 2009 | 10,098 | 2017 | 15,990 |
| 2002 | 6,550 | 2010 | 11,575 | 2018 | 15,939 |
| 2003 | 6,640 | 2011 | 12,496 | 2019 | 14,797 |
| 2004 | 6,815 | 2012 | 13,796 | 2020 | 3,887 |
| 2005 | 7,518 | 2013 | 15,155 | ||
| 2006 | 8,509 | 2014 | 15,092 | ||
| 2007 | 9,208 | 2015 | 15,052 | ||
| This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Last update: Table has data from 2015(October 2025) |
| Tourist arrivals of Top 10 SADC countries[13] | Tourist arrivals of Top 10 overseas countries[13] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking | Country of origin | Visitor arrivals 2015 | % Total arrivals | Ranking | Country of origin | Visitor arrivals 2015 | % Total arrivals |
| 1 |  Zimbabwe | 1 900 791 | 28.9 | 1 |  United Kingdom | 407 486 | 19.0 |
| 2 |  Lesotho | 1 394 913 | 21.2 | 2 |  United States | 297 226 | 13.9 |
| 3 |  Mozambique | 1 200 335 | 18.3 | 3 |  Germany | 256 646 | 12.0 |
| 4 |  Eswatini | 838 006 | 12.7 | 4 |  France | 128 438 | 6.0 |
| 5 |  Botswana | 593 514 | 9.0 | 5 |  Netherlands | 121 883 | 5.7 |
| 6 |  Namibia | 212 514 | 3.2 | 6 |  Australia | 99 205 | 4.6 |
| 7 |  Zambia | 161 259 | 2.5 | 7 |  China | 84 691 | 3.9 |
| 8 |  Malawi | 135 260 | 2.1 | 8 |  India | 78 385 | 3.7 |
| 9 |  Angola | 48 416 | 0.7 | 9 |  Canada | 56 224 | 2.6 |
| 10 |  Tanzania | 35 817 | 0.5 | 10 |  Italy | 52 377 | 2.4 |
The tourism industry in South Africa is managed by theDepartment of Tourism. The department is headed up by theMinister of Tourism; a position held since 2023 by leader of theGOOD party,Patricia de Lille.
The Department had a budget in the 2024/2025 fiscal year ofR2.3 billion. This is allocated to the country's national marketing agency (which received R1.2 billion in the same year), and programs like the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) and Tourism Incentive Programmes (TIP).[14]
The official nationalmarketing agency of theSouth African government, with the goal of promoting tourism in South Africa both locally and globally is known asSouth African Tourism (SA Tourism).[15]
Certain provinces and cities have their own tourism marketing agencies, tasked with similar responsibilities, but for their local jurisdictions. Examples are Wesgro in theWestern Cape andCape Town Tourism inCape Town.
Tourism in South Africa contributes a significant amount of money towards the country's GDP. In May 2025, according to Statistics South Africa (StatsSA), the tourism industry accounted for 3.3% of South Africa's GDP.[1] This is up from 2.3% in 2019.[16]
The total nominal GDP of the South African economy in 2024 wasR7.3 trillion.[17] Therefore, the South African tourism industry contributed an annual total of around R241 billion to the country's economy around the same time.
Taking the Department of Tourism's 2024/2025 fiscal year budget of R2.3 billion into account, the return on investment for the Department sits at around over 100 times.
| This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Last update: Visa policy image is from 2022(October 2025) |
Visitors to South Africa must obtain avisa from one of theSouth African diplomatic missions unless they come from one of the visa exempt countries, in which case they get what is called a "Port of Entry Visa". Visitors who require a visa must apply in person and provide biometric data.[18] See also thevisa policy of South Africa.
Before the end ofapartheid, the nation was not largely celebrated as a tourist destination. As a result of the political unrest, the country faced difficulty in creating a highly-functioning tourism industry. Though the numbers indicate there was active tourism, it was not expansive and faced hardships as a result of the politics of the period.[19]
In the years following the multiracial democratic election of 1994, South Africa opened its tourism horizons by hosting a variety of worldwide events including the 1995 Rugby World Cup, and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The hosting of these events helped bolster South Africa's image and national identity.[20]
After apartheid, there was an emergence of black-owned bed and breakfast establishments in the South African tourism industry. These establishments mainly exist in former "black spaces", also known as townships. These bed and breakfast locations mainly benefit from domestic tourism in South Africa. The national government sought to bolster black economic empowerment and the general structure of ownership in the tourism industry. Places such as Alexandra have become part of an initiative of "township tourism". The concept is meant to develop the townships by sharing their history and celebrating their culture with tourists.[21]
South Africa, however, failed in their bid to host the 2004 Summer Olympics. Researchers have cited logistical and political reasons as to why the bid failed. For example, Cape Town was behind in the necessary means to support an event the size of the Olympics financially. Political reasons were also prevalent in the eventual failure of the bid as the committee was all-white and the motive to create a national identity seemed like a false promise to the majority black population of South Africa.
The Bid Committee had issues of reconciliation and accusations of racism specifically between Raymond Ackerman, a wealthy white man who led the bid, and Sam Ramsamy who was of Indian descent. Therefore, in an attempt to enhance the tourism industry through an Olympics bid, the challenge of cohesive action posed a great threat.[22]
The 2010 FIFA World Cup is an example of a more successful route by South Africa to increase tourism and influence the nation positively. Firstly, the event helped to bolster South Africa's global brand and image. One of the main objectives in South Africa's attempt to host such events was to positively influence its national identity and erase the negative image of apartheid set forth prior to the nation's gradual shift to become the self-proclaimed "Rainbow Nation".[20]
Some examples of SA reinventing itself through the tourism industry include the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg,District Six Museum in Cape Town, and former prisons turned into powerful museums, such as Constitution Hill andRobben Island, which now attract many tourists each year.[23]
In October 2025, Tourism MinisterPatricia de Lille announced that for the first six months of 2025, tourism in South Africa had increased by 15.8% compared to the year before. Middle Eastern arrivals increased by 82.2%, Central and South American arrivals increased by 63.6%, Australasian arrivals increased by 38.0%, African land arrivals increased by 31.8%, and European arrivals increased by 20.8%. The increase in tourism numbers comes as SA prepares to roll out its Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA). The Minister said the country had a goal of 15 million visitors by 2030.[24]
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