South Africa ranks highest among African countries on the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Travel & Tourism Development Index, moving up seven places since the 2019 report.

The country ranks 55th out of 119 countries in the second edition of the index that was issued earlier this week.

Mauritius ranks as the second highest African country on the list (57), followed by Egypt (61), Botswana (75), Kenya (77), Tanzania (81), Morocco (82), Tunisia (83), Rwanda (93), Namibia (95), Zambia (104), Ghana (106), Senegal (107), Zimbabwe (110), Nigeria (112), Benin (113), Ivory Coast (114), Malawi (115), Angola (116) , Cameroon (117), Sierra Leone (118) and Mali (119).

The Top 20 places on the index is the USA in first place, followed by Spain, Japan, France, Australia, Germany, Britain, China, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark, the United Arab Emirates, Sweden and Finland.

Tourism Minister Patricia De Lille has welcomed the news that South Africa improved on its position on the Index.

“We are extremely pleased with this ranking as it affirms our commitment and work to elevate the significance and contribution of the tourism sector in South Africa. The tourism sector has achieved robust growth over the past year and this is due to closer partnerships and collaborations with the private sector to grow tourism to its full potential.”

In the 2024 Index, South Africa scored high for price competitiveness, ICT readiness, natural resources and travel and tourism socio-economic impact.

De Lille says the mission remains to exponentially grow arrival numbers and the overall performance of the tourism sector.

“The sector already makes a significant contribution to South Africa’s GDP and job creation efforts but there is still so much more to be done. We have been working closer with the private sector and we are bearing fruit. I want to acknowledge and thank the tourism private sector stakeholders for all their hard work and collaborating with government to grow this exciting and important sector. The South Africa tourism sector’s greatest asset is our people and we will continue working to grow tourism’s contribution to the prosperity of people and the planet.”

In 2023, South Africa welcomed close to 8.5 million international visitors of which 6.4 million were from the African continent. This represents an increase of 48.9% compared to 2022 arrivals.

During the first quarter of 2024 – January to March – South African welcomed 2.4 million visitors from the rest of the world. This represents a notable 15.4% increase when compared with the same period in 2023.