South African tourism up 15% in 2006
South African tourism statistics from last year show an almost 15% increase from 2005, and the appeal of the country is also spreading to a broader range of people.
Over 6 million people visited South Africa in the first 3 quarters of 2006, and tourism minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk has asserted the figures are "well on track" to surpass the all-time high numbers recorded in 2005.
Mr van Schalkwyk said at a tourism conference: "What we have achieved together is reflected in the exponential growth of South Africa's tourism industry since our transition to democracy in 1994."
The national demographic of visitors to South Africa has been broadening as well with almost a 10% increase in visitors from North America. Numbers of Russian tourists nearly doubled, visitors from Hungary grew by 24.1% and those from Finland were up by 17.4%.
"This shows that we have been successful at achieving broader market penetration on the European continent, beyond our traditional source markets in Western Europe," Mr van Schalkwyk said.
The minister also outlined plans to increase the number of business tourists visiting the country, which currently accounts for 5% of the market, saying: "I am certain that this figure will be improved upon in the lead up to 2010, and believe that the industry's vision of doubling this figure in the next 3 years is not overly ambitious."
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