Covid19, and the related travel restrictions, have shaken up the rankings with regards to which countries contribute the most to South Africa’s overseas tourism market. Prior to the Covi-19 pandemic the United Kingdom has traditionally occupied the top spot, but during 2021 more visitors from the United States travelled to South Africa than from any other country.

The Covid-19 pandemic has been disastrous for international tourism to South Africa. In 2020 the number of overseas tourists visiting South Africa dropped by 80%, and this trend continued in 2021 with the numbers dropping by a further 50%. Covid-19 not only affected the number of overseas tourists visiting South Africa, but also the key source markets for overseas tourism.

Visitors from European countries have always been the largest source market for South African tourism with the United Kingdom traditionally occupying the top spot. The United Kingdom has normally provided approximately 30% of overseas tourists to South Africa. However, due to the extremely strict travel restrictions imposed by the United Kingdom the number of United Kingdom citizens visiting South Africa dropped to under 10% of pre-pandemic levels.

Visitors from Germany have normally occupied the second spot in overseas tourists visiting South Africa. However, this market was also severely affected by travel restrictions and the numbers dropped by around 85% of pre-pandemic levels.

On the other hand, travelers from the United States were not nearly as severely affected by travel restrictions and as a result the number of Americans visiting South Africa nearly equaled the combined number from both the United Kingdom and Germany. Fully vaccinated Americans were allowed to return to the US without going through a mandatory quarantine period. The number of Americans visiting South Africa in December 2021 was only 0.1% down from the same time the previous year pushing America to the top spot for visitors traveling to South Africa.