Namibia has emerged as the leading top African source market for air travellers visiting Cape Town, contributing 1,917 passengers in April 2024, recent data from the Department of Statistics in South Africa reveals.
Zimbabwe recorded the second highest number of nationals visiting Cape Town via air, followed by nationals from Angola, Kenya and Mozambique making up the top five positions.
While the total number of Namibians travelling to South Africa dipped slightly to 12,614 in April 2024 compared to 14,065 in April 2023, air travel saw a significant rise.
In April 2024, a total of 12,614 Namibians entered South Africa. Among these, air travel accounted for 4,234 passengers, compared to road travel at 8,364 and a minimal number travelling by sea at 16.
Furthermore, the data reveals that holiday travel is the primary driver behind the Namibian movement to South Africa, with 9,033 travellers categorised as such in April 2024 while 3,188 passengers travelled for business and 381 for study purposes.
Looking at the broader picture, between January and April 2024, a total of 51,726 Namibians travelled to South Africa. This represents a slight increase compared to the same period in 2023, which saw 50,357 Namibian travellers visit South Africa.
This comes as total tourist arrivals to Cape Town International Airport via air maintain a positive trend moving into the second quarter of 2024, showing a 13% year-on-year increase between January and April 2024, reaching 405,021 tourists and exceeding the 2019 figure of 350,020.
The United Kingdom led as the top overseas air market to Cape Town, with Germany a very close second, followed by the United States of America, Netherlands and France in the rest of the top five positions.
