Inbound tourism spending up - report

South Africa saw a 34 percent increase in inbound tourism spending during the first quarter of 2010, and anticipated additional growth opportunities around the World Cup.

Top contributors to South Africa's inbound tourism spending in 2009 included the United Kingdom (26 percent), United States (15 percent), Mozambique (5 percent), Germany and France (four percent each), according to Tourism Outlook: South Africa, an annual report released on Tuesday by Visa. The figures related only to spending by Visa cardholders.

While travellers from Western Europe and the US continued to be the strongest contributors to South African tourism, significant increases in spending by cardholders from emerging markets were indicative of South Africa's growing stature as a tourism destination.

There was double- and triple-digit growth in spending by cardholders originating from Malawi (168 percent), Mozambique (118 percent), Angola (115 percent), China (28 percent) and Botswana (18 percent).

"This significant growth can also be attributed to developments in payments infrastructure and increased adoption and use of digital currency by consumers in developing markets," Visa said.

The data indicated South Africa weathered the economic headwinds which affected international tourism during 2009 better than most countries around the world.

While many countries saw double-digit drops in inbound tourism spending, Visa card holder spending by international visitors to South Africa decreased only 2.7 percent from US1.84 billion in 2008 to US1.79 billion in 2009, according to the report.