TOURIST ARRIVALS UP BY 3.7%

MBABANE – Eswatini welcomed 101 973 international visitors in March 2019, reflecting an increase of 3.7 per cent when compared to March 2018.

The Eswatini Tourism Authority (ETA) Research Department’s Bongani Hlophe said this growth was largely influenced by an increase in arrivals from South Africa (18.9 per cent), which remains Eswatini’s largest source market.

It was stated that during this period, notable growth of 3.2 per cent was also registered in visitations from Americans. However, the susceptibility of the tourism sector to exogenous factors was realised as visits from Mozambique and key European markets fell resulting from catastrophic natural disasters and economic uncertainties, respectively.

It was mentioned that the destructions caused by two consecutive tropical cyclones that struck Mozambique in March and April, and the uncertainties relating to the Brexit negatively affected outbound leisure visitations from these markets.
“Arrivals from the Africa region reached 89 719 in March 2019, with a notable increase of 6.8 per cent in comparison to the same month in 2018,” said Hlophe.
Key performing markets during this period include South Africa (18.9 per cent), Botswana (118.9 per cent), Tanzania (14.1 per cent) and Lesotho (14.0 per cent).

impact

On the adverse, demand for travel from Mozambique (-30.4 per cent) remained low as the impact of cyclones Idai and Kenneth resulted in loss of life and displacements, consequently dampening propensity for leisure travel.
“Other notable markets within the region that recorded declines during the reference period comprised of Kenya (-7.9 per cent), Zambia (-29.3 per cent) and Malawi (-11.7 per cent),” reported ETA. 

The Middle East region continued to be depicted by an escalation in geopolitical tensions, therefore resulting in undesirable effects on both inbound and outbound tourism. As such, arrivals from the region fell by 50.1 per cent, with Eswatini’s largest source market in the region, Israel (-66.4 per cent), also posting considerable declines in visitations.

performance

ETA reported the Americas region registered a noteworthy aggregate performance of 2.5 per cent during this period, with arrivals from USA (3.9 per cent) accounting for the largest share of visits from this region.

“A weakened lilangeni against the US dollar eased the cost of travel for American travellers thus enhancing the appeal of Eswatini as a leisure destination. Conversely, arrivals from Brazil (-25.5 per cent) and Canada (-9.4 per cent) registered declines,” added ETA.

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