Document: Highlights of Tourism Performance in 2010

Tourist arrivals reached an all-time high of 8,1 million in 2010, with 1,061,687 more tourist arrivals to South Africa than in 2009. This is a growth of 15.1%, driven mainly by South Africa hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup in June and July 2010. South Africa again outperformed global tourism which grew by 6.7% in 2010.

Africa is the largest source of tourist arrivals and the region contributed an additional 651,763 arrivals, a growth of 12.8% over 2009. The air markets in Africa grew by 14.0% in 2010 while the land markets in Africa grew by 12.8% in the same year.

The Americas region grew by 37.8%, an additional 124,736 tourists, driven by growth in Brazil of 66.7%, and USA by 22.6%. The 2010 FIFA World Cup saw tourist arrivals from Mexico, Chile and Argentina grow by 495.5%, 181.3% and 121.7% respectively.

Europe grew by 8.1% with growth from all markets in the region, with the exception of Ireland. France (11.0%), Germany (9.7%) and Italy (8.7%) showed the highest growth in 2010. Asia and Australasia grew by 34.6 % with increases in all the markets in the region. China (including Hong Kong) and Australia posted the highest growths with 62.3% and 30.4% respectively.