Indians rank eighth among South African tourist arrivals

Mumbai, Feb 3 : Indian tourists ranked eighth among all international arrivals to South Africa with longer stay and average expenditure spent in 2016, a top official said here on Friday.

Notching a 27 per cent growth with 81,429 arrivals last year, Indian leisure travellers spent an average of Rs 5,90,000 per head, with spending budgets ranging from Rs 150,000 to around Rs 1 million, said South African Tourism India Country Manager Hanneli Slabber.

"We want to sustain this growth and attract return travellers. So, we are going to focus on increasing the geographical scope of the market. Our biggest sources are Mumbai and Delhi followed by Bengaluru and Chennai," Slabber said, winding up its four-city road shows here.

Indian tourists on an average spent 11 nights for holidays and business travellers spent 19 days, indicating that the business travellers took time off to explore the country after work, Slabber added.

Besides, holiday choices have become increasingly experimental, she said. Indians participate in adventure activities like the world's highest bridge bungee jump, shark-cage diving, skydiving, idyllic experiences like Boma dinners, local vineyards tours, local history, culture, lifestyle and wildlife tours.

South African Tourism's new campaign 'Wow In Every Moment' was launched to lure Indian travellers.

The upcoming tours by Indian and Australian cricket teams for four-test series in South Africa would also mean a huge surge in visitors to that country, Slabber said.