SA's neighbours are driving its tourism boom. Rest of the world hasn't caught up

In the first five months of 2026, 4.8-million tourists arrived in South Africa. It is the highest number for this period since at least 2018, which suggests 2026 could be a bumper tourism year for the country.

But most of the tourists are arriving from South Africa’s neighbours in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.

We are using January to May because that is the most recent data Stats SA has released, and the data is telling. SADC arrivals over this period did not just bounce back from the pandemic in 2020. They have overtaken pre-Covid levels, up 12.8% on 2018's January-to-May total.

Overseas tourism has not managed the same comeback. It is still down almost 8% on where it was in 2018, even as global travel has broadly recovered.

SADC tourists now make up 76% of all arrivals to South Africa, up from around 73% in 2018.