More Kenyans visit South Africa despite economic meltdown

By John Oyuke

Kenyans visiting South Africa grew by five per cent last year despite current global financial downturn.

Arrivals from Kenya were 25,657 in 2007 compared to 26,939 in the period January to December last year.

South Africa tourism minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said the country’s tourism sector continues to impress, especially in terms of arrivals growth and foreign direct spend generated despite global recession.

Arrivals from Africa grew seven per cent last year with Mozambique (13.2 per cent), Angola (15.3 per cent) and Swaziland (4.7 per cent) continuing to show strong growth. The Americas region also performed well with a 5.2 per cent increase last year though growth declined in the Asia and Australasia (-3.2 per cent) and Europe (-0.5 per cent). Van Schalkwyk, however, said despite the continued growth in the number of visitors, provincial spread, seasonality patterns and length of stay are areas still require attention.

"The South African industry continued to perform well in spite of pressures of the financial crisis that had seen growth in the global industry shrink to 1.3 per cent last year," he said in a statement.

Van Schalkwyk said he was encouraged by the industry’s performance last year and remained optimistic that South Africa would achieve its target of 10 million arrivals in 2010. A total of 9,591,828 foreigners visited South Africa last year compared to 9,090,881 in 2007.

South Africa will host numerous global events including ICC Champions Trophy, the British Lions Tour, the Confederations Cup and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.