Nicola Mawson|Published
South Africa’s tourism industry added more than 185,000 jobs in 2024, but the latest accommodation figures suggest that not every business is benefiting equally from the country’s growing appetite for travel.
Statistics South Africa’s tourism figures show that the sector directly employed 953,981 people in 2024, an increase of 24.1% from 768,823 the previous year. Tourism’s contribution to the economy also climbed, reaching R361.7 billion, or 4.9% of gross domestic product (GDP), an 18% increase from R306.5 billion and 4.4% in 2023.
However, newer figures from Statistics South Africa's tourist accommodation survey show a divided market, with guesthouses and guest farms recording strong revenue growth while caravan parks and camping sites continue to lose ground.
In July 2026, income from guesthouses and guest farms increased by 28.2% compared with July 2025. Revenue from other accommodation establishments rose by 15.7%, while hotels recorded growth of just 0.8%.
Vaycay time
Statistics South Africa classifies most arrivals as holiday visitors, although this category includes people travelling to visit family and friends, shop or attend personal events, rather than only conventional leisure holidays.
The longer-term economic figures indicate that tourism is becoming a more significant source of employment.
The industry’s share of total employment increased from 4.7% in 2023 to 5.7% in 2024. Domestic tourism expenditure reached R665.3 billion in 2024, an increase of 8.4%, while spending by international visitors rose 12.2% to R113.9 billion.
"Domestic tourism remains an important part of South Africa’s tourism industry, with local travel helping to sustain businesses, support jobs and generate economic activity in communities across the country. Encouraging South Africans to discover the country’s diverse cultural, natural and heritage attractions also strengthen the domestic tourism market," says the agency.
No camping
Caravan parks and camping sites, meanwhile, suffered a 19.7% decline in accommodation income. The weakness was not confined to July. Camping and caravan accommodation revenue fell in every month from February to July 2026, with year-on-year declines ranging from 18.7% to 36.5%.
Yet, total accommodation income increased by 7% in July, supported by a 7.4% rise in the number of nights sold. However, average income per night declined by 0.3%, showing that accommodation establishments collectively sold more nights without achieving a corresponding increase in the average amount earned per night.
Over the three months from May to July, accommodation income increased by 4.1%, with much of the growth coming from the category Statistics South Africa describes as other accommodation.
Domestic travel has also been growing. According to Statistics South Africa’s 2024 Domestic Tourism Survey, South Africans took 33.5 million day trips during the year, up from 32.2 million in 2023.
Overnight trips increased from 25.8 million to 26.2 million over the same period.
The beach is a winner
KwaZulu-Natal remained the leading destination province for domestic overnight travel, followed by Limpopo and the Western Cape.
The international market has also shown growth, with South Africa recording just over one million overnight foreign visitors in August 2026, compared with 935,738 in August 2025. That represents a year-on-year increase of 7.4%.
However, the international visitor figures also challenge the assumption that South Africa’s tourism market is driven primarily by long-haul visitors from Europe and North America.
Of the 1,005,286 overnight visitors recorded in August, 787,231, or 78.3%, came from Southern African Development Community countries. Mozambique accounted for 231,398 visitors, followed by Zimbabwe with 224,686 and Lesotho with 135,672.
Overseas tourists represented 20.2% of the total, with the United States, United Kingdom and Germany among the leading source markets.
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